There For You
by Robbin Torres
Summary: Callie and Arizona say "I love you" under very different circumstances. See what happens in their relationship from episode 6x08 and beyond.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own anything. ABC and Shonda are the lucky ones there. This is purely for entertainment purposes.**

_A/N: This popped into my head and I thought 'why not?' I love Arizona and Callie together. I just hope they don't go the route of every other couple on Grey's and eventually cheat on each other or break up because of some stuipid argument. They're too cute for that. Anyway, here's my version of their first "I love you"s and beyond. There will be some angst... there will be some romance... and you just might overdose on Callie and Arizona goodness. Enjoy!!_

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Callie reached into her purse, growling in frustration when her initial search didn't produce any keys. She put them on top every time but when she went to find them she always had to fish around in the bottom of her purse with all the lint and forgotten receipts. Her bag sat in her locker all day. How could they possibly sink to the bottom? It made her want to say screw it and kick her door down instead of finding them.

Her day had sucked. First she looked like an idiot in front of everyone by not knowing it was Arizona's birthday. She was only the blonde's girlfriend. Why would she need to know such pertinent information? Then Christina, in all her resident glory, went rogue on their patient. Luckily her desire to prove she was a good surgeon didn't kill the poor girl. While she was in surgery she got three increasingly upset sounding messages from Arizona but she had searched the hospital high and low and couldn't find her. So she finally decided to just go home and now she couldn't find her stupid keys.

An emphatic, "It's about time," erupted from her lips as her finger finally snagged her key ring. She quickly unlocked the door, hoping Arizona would be waiting for her. It sounded like her girlfriend was having a pretty crappy day of her own. Maybe they could just curl up on the couch and let the rest of the world melt away for a while.

"I left you messages."

She looked up from dropping her keys and purse on the table just inside the door when she heard Arizona's voice. Things were looking up already. "I'm sorry, I was in surgery. There were complications and..."

"I don't care, OK?"

Callie furrowed her brow as the blonde stood up to face her.

"I operated on Wallace even though I knew better. I keep retracing every step, every suture. I keep going over it and over it."

Her heart clinched, knowing how much the little boy meant to her girlfriend. "He didn't make it?"

"He did. He's in recovery. That's not the point."

Callie cocked her head to the side, confused.

"What I needed from you tonight was a little support for once and you weren't here."

She started to point out that she had been in surgery too but knew that wasn't the right way to go. "OK. You're scared so you're picking a fight. I get that."

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever. But I have helped you through crisis after crisis and for once I thought I could come here tonight and maybe get a little caring and compassion from you. Obviously I was wrong."

Callie's mind reeled. Where was this coming from? She had never seen Arizona act like this before.

"Relationships are a two way street Calliope. You need to remember that if this is going to work. Or maybe you don't want it to. Is that it? Because if so I can..."

Arizona's voice faltered. What the hell was she doing? She had a tendency to rant and rave when she was really freaked out and to say she was freaking out over Wallace was putting it mildly, but that didn't give her the right to go off on Callie. Especially when she could tell from the confusion and devastation in those brown eyes that her girlfriend had no idea that she didn't mean a word she was saying.

"Calliope I..."

Callie's beeper interrupted her. She woodenly pulled it out of her pocket to look at the screen. "911. I have to go."

Arizona hated the hollow sound of her voice. "But..." Her beeper interrupted her this time.

Callie reached out, plucking the beeper from the pocket of the pediatrician's jacket. "Yours is too. Must be something important."

"It can wait."

Dark eyebrows arched as both their beepers sounded again. "Obviously not."

"Wait." Arizona grabbed her, swallowing hard when Callie coolly glanced from the hand on her arm to the blonde's blue eyes. "We need to talk. I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it."

"But..."

"Let's go before they send out a search party."

Arizona let her hand slide from Callie's arm. She really wanted to explain herself but she knew when not to push her girlfriend. So she picked up her purse and followed Callie out of the apartment without saying another word.

She didn't give in to fear very often. She preferred to hold it at bay by being perky and upbeat but sometimes it snuck through. And of all the emotions she could feel it was by far the worst. Poor Calliope was the latest in a long line of victims who never saw her darker side coming. Some of them had forgiven her for saying hurtful things, others hadn't. She hoped Callie was going to fall in the first category.

For her part Callie was still stunned. Her rational side told her that Arizona was upset over what was happening with Wallace but she was just insecure enough to wonder if she wasn't the problem. Sure Arizona appeared to be happy with their relationship but her judgment hadn't exactly been stellar on that front in the past. She thought George loved her even as he was shacking up with Izzie and Erica... Erica walked away without a backward glance.

"It's about time you two got here." Richard Webber hurried toward them as they approached the employee entrance.

"We came as quickly as we could." Callie answered.

"Let's go. You're both needed in the ER."

"What happened?" Arizona asked as they walked into the hospital with him.

"The mayor's son was brought in. He was jumped by some gang members and badly beaten. I..."

"Want good publicity for the hospital, we got it."

He frowned at Callie as she walked away before turning to look at Arizona. "What's with her?"

"We had a..." Arizona scrambled for the right word. It wasn't an argument considering she did all the talking. "Misunderstanding."

"Then maybe I should pull her off the case. Torres is right when she says we need positive publicity. If this is going to affect your performance..."

"Does he have broken bones?"

"Excuse me."

Arizona patiently repeated her question. "I asked if the mayor's son has any broken bones."

"Yes. His arm and possibly his leg and a couple of ribs."

"Then you don't want to pull Calliope off the case." She spoke again before he could say more. "She's the best orthopedic doctor you have at this hospital."

"He's fifteen. He needs a pediatrician. If it comes down to her or you I'm going to have to go with you."

"It won't."

"Make sure it doesn't."

Arizona hurried after Callie, not at all surprised to find she had already changed into some of the scrubs the hospital kept stocked in a small lounge near the emergency room.

"I'll get started while you change."

She shook her head as Callie breezed by her without actually looking at her. She couldn't blame her for being upset but did she have to be so damn good at making her feel guilty?

In no time Arizona was in scrubs of her own and joined Callie and a nurse in one of the trauma rooms. The sooner they finished with the boy the sooner they could go back to the apartment and talk.

"You're really stupid, you know that right?"

"Calliope." Her mouth popped open in shock as she walked into the room. They didn't need to air their dirty laundry in public.

The nurse chuckled. "Not you Dr. Robbins. She was talking to the patient."

Arizona looked at Callie in astonishment. "Like that makes it any better."

"Dr. Torres is right." The nurse continued. "He was just telling us that this wasn't a random attack. He was actually going to join the gang and..." Her voice trailed off when she saw the look Callie was giving her. "Sorry."

"I thought you were doing a great job. Ouch!" The boy lying on the gurney hissed as Callie pushed on his leg. "She's the one you're mad at, not me."

"Dr. Robbins this is Jacob Jenkins." Callie continued her examination. "Jacob, this is Dr. Robbins. She and I are going to be working on your case. Why don't you tell her what you were telling us?"

"Do I have to? Ow!" He frowned at Callie. "Fine. If it will make you stop trying to rip my leg off I'll tell her whatever you want." He switched his attention to Arizona. "I was trying to join the gang but my initiation was to rob this older couple in my neighborhood. I couldn't do it. I mean, I used to cut their grass for crying out loud. So when I told them I had changed my mind they jumped me."

"Why?" Arizona frowned.

Jacob quirked an eyebrow. "Because I told them I wouldn't do it. These guys don't take no for an answer."

"I mean why would you want to join a gang?" Arizona clarified.

"Because it seems dangerous and exciting." Callie flexed his ankle as she spoke. "And it might just make everyone realize that you're an adult. That you don't want to be treated like a kid anymore. Especially your parents, right Jacob?"

He frowned at her. "What makes you say that? Maybe I wanted to join because I'm bad ass."

"Right." Callie chuckled. "I know where you're coming from. I grew up in a very affluent family too. One that had expectations that I felt like I couldn't live up to. That can be pretty tough when you're a kid."

"I'm not a kid." Jacob snapped.

"You're fifteen. I hate to tell you this, but that does make you a kid. When I was sixteen I thought I knew everything. So when my father told me I should stop hanging out with the new girl at school, Tia, because he thought she was trouble, I ignored him. When she told me she could get me into the newest all girl gang in Miami I jumped at the chance."

Arizona, who had started probing the boy's stomach for internal bleeding stopped to stare at her girlfriend. Why hadn't she heard this story before?

Jacob was watching Callie intently. "Did you join?"

"Almost. I was supposed to help Tia shoplift some things from a convenience store but ended up with strep throat. Tia gave me crap for letting her down but told me everything would work out. Once she was in the gang she would get me in too. Since I couldn't go along she took her father's gun instead."

"Oh man." Jacob shook his head. "She shot the clerk didn't she?"

"No, he shot her. She started waving the gun around and he defended himself."

"Did she..."

Callie nodded. "Right there on the floor of the store."

Arizona pursed her lips, wishing there was some way she could take away the pain in her lover's eyes.

"Did the gang come after you?"

"No. I've never been sure why but I was lucky." She locked eyes with the boy. "Just like you. This could have been a lot worse."

"I know." Jacob dropped his head to avoid her gaze. "I probably wouldn't be alive if someone hadn't called the cops."

Callie nodded. "You need to tell you father everything that happened. I have a feeling he'll understand more than you think he will. And he'll be able to keep you safe."

"Nothing's going to keep his ass safe now."

All four occupants of the room looked up as two boys walked in, shutting the door behind them.

Callie frowned. "Who are you and what do you think you're doing in here?"

"We're Griffins." The one who had spoken before glared at Jacob. "And we're here to finish what we started."

"Griffins?" Arizona repeated the name.

"They're part of the gang I was going to join." Jacob filled her in.

"Arizona," Callie nodded toward the phone on the wall not far from the pediatrician. "Call security."

The second boy shook his head. "That's not such a good idea. We don't want any trouble."

Callie stared him down. "Then what do you want?"

"Him." The first one pointed at Jacob.

"He's not going anywhere."

The boy switched his heated gaze to Callie. "Like hell he's not."

"You broke his leg." Callie gave Arizona a barely perceptible eye roll, telling her to get to the phone.

"Well then he's going to be in pain as he walks out of here."

"We could take the gurney." The second one pointed out.

"We don't need it, the fool can walk." The boy sneered at Jacob. "It'll do him good."

"Or you could carry him." Callie offered. "You're both big strapping guys."

Arizona knew she was trying to give her the chance to get to the phone so she edged in that direction.

"There's no way in hell I'm carrying him." The second boy looked at the first one.

"No one is carrying anyone. Hey!" The other boy spotted Arizona reaching for the phone. "What do you think you're doing?" He reached toward the back of his pants. "I said to stop!"

The world seemed to stand still as the boy produced a gun, pointing it at Arizona.

"No!"

Callie's voice and a deafening bang were the last things Arizona heard before something slammed into her, knocking her back into the wall. She barely had a chance to fell pain erupt through her body before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Thanks for all the reviews. Here's hoping you enjoy the second chapter as much as the first._

"Holy shit!"

The sound of Jacob's voice kept Arizona from blacking out completely.

"You shot her." It was the second boy. The one without the gun. "Jesus man, you shot her!"

Shot her? Shot who?

"Dr. Robbins?"

The concerned face of the nurse swam into view.

"Can you hear me Dr. Robbins?"

Arizona groaned as the room came back into focus. "What happened?"

"Dr. Torres she…" The nurse swallowed nervously. "She stepped in front of you. She…"

"He shot her!" Jacob yelled.

That's when Arizona realized Callie was slumped against her. "Calliope?" Her heart skipped a beat when she didn't a response. "Calliope!" She craned her neck to get a better look at her girlfriend, shocked by how much blood was already staining the front of Callie's scrub top.

The nurse squatted next to them. "It's her left shoulder."

Arizona struggled to concentrate. As a woman she wanted to break down but as a doctor she knew she couldn't. Callie was hurt and bleeding and in desperate need of her help. The longer she sat there doing nothing the more her girlfriend suffered.

"I can't see anything from back here. Can you help me lay her down?"

"Of course," the nurse agreed.

"OK Calliope, we're going to move you now." Arizona paused, hoping Callie would give some indication that she heard her but none came. She nodded at the nurse, who put her hands on Callie's sides to pull her forward far enough for Arizona to wiggle out from under her. Once she was free they gently lowered Callie to the ground.

Being able to see her lover only upset Arizona more. Callie's normally robust olive skin was dangerously pale and her breathing was shallow and erratic. But it was the blood that continued to flow from the wound that concerned her most.

"Hey." She put her hand on a clammy cheek when Callie's eyes started to roll back in head. "Stay with me."

Callie blinked up at her. "Are you OK?"

Tears filled Arizona's eyes. "Don't worry about me."

Callie gripped Arizona's hand as she reached for her stethoscope. "Are... you..." her chest heaved as she struggled to breath, "OK?"

"Calm down Calliope. I'm fine, I promise." She gave her hand a squeeze before letting go to put her stethoscope on. She knew even before she put it against the left side of Callie's chest that it was bad. Her lung had collapsed and air was building up in her chest cavity, making it harder and harder for her to breathe. "She's got a tension pneumo and she's losing too much blood. I need bandages and a chest tube kit."

The boy with the gun leveled it on the nurse as she climbed to her feet. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Just over there to get the supplies Dr. Robbins needs to help Dr. Torres."

"Who said she could do that?"

"Come on man." His companion frowned at him.

"What? It's not my fault the dumb bitch stepped into my line of fire."

"You still would have shot one of them."

"And?"

The other boy shook his head. "Forget it. Let's just get out of here before..."

The door swung open to reveal a security guard. "I'm sorry to interrupt but someone thought there might be some trouble in here." His eyes got big when he spotted Arizona carefully rolling Callie onto her side to look at her back. "Is she all right?"

"Maybe you should worry about yourself." The gunman turned his weapon on the guard.

"Easy son."

"I'm not your son. Now get the hell out of here before I splatter your brains all over the place."

The guard pointed at Callie. "But it looks like she needs help."

"He's right." Arizona was quick to agree. "There's no exit wound, which means the bullet is still in her chest. She needs surgery to remove it."

"You're a doctor. You can do whatever she needs right here."

"This isn't an operating room. I can't..."

"You're gonna have to because no one is leaving this room!" The boy tightened his grip on the gun as he looked at the guard again. "I said to get out!"

"All right." The guard gave Arizona another glance before backing out of the room, letting the door shut again behind him.

"Great! Just great!" The second boy threw his hands in the air. "Now we're screwed. You realize that right?"

The gunman frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"In case you didn't notice that was a security guard. They sent him to scope out what was going on. Now that he knows they're never gonna let us out of here."

"They will as long as I have this." He gestured with his gun.

"That's what got us into trouble in the first place. Put it down and stop pointing it at everyone. And you," he looked at the nurse. "Get whatever she needs." He glared at his friend when he opened his mouth to protest. "We can't afford to let her die."

Die? Arizona frowned at the word. No one was going to die. Certainly not Callie. She wouldn't let her.

"Is she going to be all right?"

Arizona looked up at a terrified Jacob. "I hope so."

"I'm… fine." Callie breathlessly commented.

"No you're not." Arizona contradicted her. "What were you thinking Calliope?"

"I had to… protect... you."

"Here you go." The nurse reappeared before Arizona could say more. She handed the pediatrician what she needed as she got on her knees next to her.

Arizona wasted no time pressing a bandage against Callie's shoulder, wincing sympathetically when her girlfriend's face crumpled in pain. "I'm sorry."

"It's... OK." Her voice was getting weaker.

The nurse noticed too. "I'll get her prepped for the chest tube." She pulled a pair of scissors out of her pocket. "I'm going to cut up the side of your shirt rather than the front Dr. Torres. There's no sense in letting anyone see more than they should." She rolled her eyes toward the gang members.

"Thanks." Arizona said it before Callie could.

"No thanks necessary Dr. Robbins. I just wish there was more I could do for her."

Arizona opened the chest tube kit, wanting to be ready the instant the nurse was done. But when she looked back up the scissors were just getting ready to snip Callie's bra and everything else faded away.

It wasn't anything special. Just a plain black number that you could pick up in any number of stores but it was Callie's favorite because it was comfy and broken in. It was Arizona's favorite too for a much different reason. There was something about the way Callie filled it out that made her mouth water. How many times had she savored every moment of slowly peeling it off her lover to reveal the perfect breasts it held? Now she would never have the chance to do it again. And every time she tried it with another bra she would be reminded of this moment. Of when she had to make an incision in her girlfriend's side to put the chest tube in place.

She hated this. How was she supposed to take a scalpel and cut into Callie's flesh? What if she cut in the wrong place? She was used to working on children, not adults. Their bodies were smaller. What if she didn't cut deep enough on the first try and had to cut her again? What if she cut too deep and hurt Callie worse than she already was?

The nurse looked at her as she swabbed iodine on Callie's side to clean and disinfect it. "She's ready Dr. Robbins."

"I..." Arizona shook her head. "I can't do this." She looked down at Callie. "I can't hurt you."

"You... won't." Callie closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath and not sound so weak. "Pretend I'm... just... another patient."

"But you're not." Tears shimmered in her eyes. "You're my everything Calliope."

"What's with the Romeo and Juliet shit?" The gunman spat. "Are you two a couple or something?"

"Shut up and leave them alone." His companion hissed.

Callie winced as she reached up to stop the lone tear that was making its way down Arizona's cheek. "I love you."

Three little words that changed everything. How many times had Arizona fantasized about Callie saying them to her? How many times had she started to say them herself only to stop, knowing that Callie had been hurt too many times in the past and needed to feel safe enough in their relationship to say them first? And now, to have it happen like this… It broke her heart and elated her all at the same time. Calliope loved her!

She opened her mouth to reply when the door suddenly flew open, banging into the wall.

Someone yelled, "Nobody move!" as police came into the room.

"Screw that." The gunman swung his gun, firing in their general direction.

Arizona jumped as the gun went off, instinctively putting herself over Callie but kept her head up so she could see what was going on.

One of the officers returned fire, hitting the boy in the arm.

"Shit!" The boy growled, somehow managing to keep his grip on the gun to squeeze off another round.

Another policeman fired this time, hitting him the leg.

Impact threw him off balance, making him trip over the gurney. Jacob used his good arm to knock the gun away before punching his attacker in the face.

The other gang member, who had pressed himself against the wall, raised his hands in surrender. A cop stepped forward to handcuff him even as two others went to secure the gunman.

"Are you all right ma'am?"

Arizona jumped again when she heard the voice, surprise to find an officer standing over them.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine. I'm fine." She answered distractedly as she moved to look at her girlfriend. "It's over Calliope." Her heart sank when she saw that Callie's eyes were closed. "Calliope?"

That's when she realized she couldn't hear Callie breathing anymore.

"Calliope!" Her hand shook as she reached for the neck she loved to nibble on, frantically repositioning her fingers half a dozen times in an effort to find a pulse. "Calliope!!"

Callie didn't answer. She couldn't.

She was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Arizona was numb. Utterly and completely numb. This couldn't be happening. Callie wasn't… She couldn't be…

"We need to clear this room. NOW!" The officer standing over them barked the order when he realized what was going on.

"No." Arizona clinched her jaw against the tears streaming down her face. "You're not doing this." Determination filled her body. "You're not doing this!"

She tipped Callie's head back, forcing her mouth open. "You're not saving my life and then leaving me!"

She linked their lips, blowing precious life's breath into her lover's lungs. "You can't!"

Her hands instinctively went to the correct spot for compressions. "I won't let you!" She growled as she pumped Callie's chest.

She let herself get lost in the all too familiar rhythm of CPR. Anytime she had to use the lifesaving technique it tore at her but this was different. Callie wasn't the only one at stake. If this didn't work her life would be over too.

"Arizona."

She ignored the voice, checking for a pulse before leaning in for another round of breaths. "Come on baby. Please." She started more compressions. "Come back!"

"Arizona."

She shrugged the hand on her shoulder away, concentrating on Callie. "Please." Her body shook as the sobs she'd been holding at bay finally escaped. "Please Calliope."

Strong arms closed around her. "Come on Arizona."

"No." She struggled to escape as she was pulled away from Callie. "She needs me!"

"You're right, she does need you, but she needs them too." Mark's voice was gentle in her ear. "Let them help her."

As if on cue Bailey and Hunt descended on Callie. Mark moved Arizona out of the way as Hunt wasted no time sweeping the Latina's fragile body up in his arms to put her on the bed someone had pushed into the room. As soon as he laid Callie down Meredith Grey cut her shirt open to hook her up to monitors and Alex Karev put an oxygen mask over her face. Bailey started compressions when she saw her co-worker was flatlining.

"She can't…" Arizona's voice was ragged as her body sagged. "She can't be gone Mark."

"She isn't." He held her close. "She's a fighter Arizona. She's not going anywhere."

Hunt shook his head after listening to Callie's chest and watching the monitors keeping track of her condition. "That's not working. We need the crash cart."

Arizona felt sick. Defibrillators could work miracles but they could also signal the beginning of the end.

"Charge to 300." Owen waited for Meredith to set the machine. "Clear!"

She whimpered as the paddles touched Callie's body, causing her to jerk on the bed. But none of her vital signs changed.

"Again."

She turned, burying her head against Mark's chest. She couldn't watch. She couldn't bear witness to what was happening to her Calliope.

"Clear!"

A slow, irregular beeping sound filled the room.

"You got her." Bailey's relief was evident.

Arizona pulled away from Mark, hope shining in her yes. "She has a tension pneumo. I was about to put a chest tube in when everything happened."

Owen nodded. "I need a large bore needle."

Meredith grabbed one from the crash cart. "Here."

"Thanks." He removed the plunger and slipped the needle into Callie's chest, allowing the air that had built up to escape. He nodded as her vital signs improved slightly. "We need to intubate and get a chest tube in."

"Karev." Bailey motioned at the intern. "You intubate, I'll handle the chest tube."

"I'm on it." Alex's voice was grim.

Owen turned his attention to Arizona and Mark. "Thanks for the help but you can't be in here right now."

Arizona looked at him like he'd sprouted a second head. "What are you talking about?"

"He's right." Bailey agreed. "Get her out of here Sloan."

Mark frowned. "But..."

"You heard me." Miranda gave him her best Nazi look. "We're all close to the situation here but you two are closer than anyone. You can't help her right now and we don't need any back seat doctoring while we're working on her." She looked past the pair at the others packing the room. "Or any of the rest of you either. Karev, Grey you can stay. Everyone else get out too."

Owen looked up at the heart monitor as an alarm went off. "Forget the chest tube. We need to get her to surgery."

"I'm scrubbing in." Arizona declared.

"Absolutely not." Bailey shook her head.

"Then I'll watch from the gallery."

"No you won't." Chief Webber spoke as he walked into the room. "What are all of you people doing here? Dr. Torres is in the best possible hands. Now get back to work!"

Arizona watched as interns and residents alike scrambled to leave. "Sir, I..."

"Don't even try it Robbins. You either Sloan. No one's watching this one from the gallery. Dr. Torres deserves her doctors' undivided attention and that's exactly what she's going to get." He looked back and forth between Arizona and Mark. "Am I making myself clear?"

The alarm on the monitor sounded again.

"We have to go." Bailey announced, already moving the bed toward the now open doorway.

"Calliope." Arizona panicked at the thought of being separated from her. She managed to brush her fingertips against a limp hand as they rushed past.

"The chief's right Arizona, she's in the best possible hands right now." Mark squeezed her shoulder. "Come on. We'll go lay claim to one of the consult rooms on the surgical ward. We won't have to share it with anyone like we would the family room."

"Not so fast." The chief spoke again. "Robbins, I want you to get checked out by Shepherd."

"What?" Arizona frowned. "Why?"

"The nurse who was in here with you two said you almost passed out from hitting your head on the wall."

Mark's brow furrowed in concern. "You hit your head?"

Arizona ignored him. "But I'm…"

"You could have a concussion. You're getting examined and that's that." Richard's face softened. "I know how worried you are about Torres but you're not going to do her any good by ignoring your own health. Besides, the board of the hospital will have my ass if I don't follow up on what that nurse is saying. So humor me. Derek is already waiting for you in curtain three."

"Can it at least wait until after I call Calliope's parents? They need to know what happened."

"You go get checked out, I'll call Callie's parents." Mark continued before she could argue. "You need to let Derek make sure you're all right. Callie would never forgive me if something happened to you while she's out of commission."

"Fine." Arizona sighed, drawing her cell phone out of her pocket. "Their number is stored in my contacts."

"Great. I'll take you to curtain three and then call them."

"I could take her to see Derek." Christina spoke up from just outside the door in the hallway. "I mean…" She swallowed nervously as they all turned to look at her. "Callie's not just my roommate, she's my friend. I'd like to help."

"Are you all right with her tagging along Dr. Robbins?" The chief clapped his hands when she nodded. "Then it's settled. Sloan, go call the Torres'. Yang, you be sure Robbins makes it to Derek. Don't let her try to talk you out of it."

"I won't." Christina assured him.

"You better not." He warned her. "I'm going to go see how the surgery is going. I'll let you know something as soon as I can." He looked at each of them in turn almost as if he had more to say but didn't before hurrying away.

"I'll come find you as soon as I'm off the phone." Mark squeezed Arizona's shoulder again. "And remember what I said. Callie is a fighter. She won't let some snot nosed gang banging punk take her out."

Arizona put her hand over his for a split second before walking out of the room, Christina hot on her heels. All she could do was hope and pray that he was right. That Callie would make it through surgery because quite honestly, she didn't know what she would do if she didn't.


	4. Chapter 4

Mark stared at the cell phone in his hand. Volunteering to call the Torres' had seemed like the right thing to do just a few minutes ago but now he wasn't so sure. As a doctor he was used to giving bad news to families but this was completely different. Callie wasn't just any patient, she was his best friend. And he may not know her parents but what he was about to do was bound to shatter their world. Their daughter had been shot and even though he believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Callie was going to live, hearing that she was currently in surgery was going to break their hearts.

"Man up Sloan," he grumbled to himself as he opened the phone and found the Torres' number in Arizona's contacts. He quickly hit the talk button before he could change his mind.

Someone picked up on the second ring. "Torres residence."

"Mrs. Torres?"

"No, this is Sonia, the housekeeper. May I help you?"

"I need to talk to Mr. or Mrs. Torres right away."

"I'm sorry sir, they don't accept…"

"My name is Mark Sloan. I'm a friend of their daughter, Callie. I need to speak to one of them immediately."

"Is Miss Callie all right?"

Mark clinched his jaw. "I really need to speak to one of her parents."

"OK. Hold on."

He massaged the back of his neck with his free hand as he paced and waited.

"Carlos Torres."

"Mr. Torres it's Mark Sloan. I'm a friend of Callie's. We met when you came to Seattle."

"Yes, Dr. Sloan. When Sonia mentioned a friend of Callie's I thought maybe she meant Arizona, but it's nice to hear from you as well. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I…" Mark hated what he was about to do. "There's no way to sugarcoat this so I'm just going to say it. There was an incident in the emergency room today. Callie's been shot."

"Shot?!"

"Yes sir."

"Is she…"

"No, but she's in surgery."

"How bad is it?"

"She was shot in the shoulder. I'm not sure how much damage there was." He frowned when a diatribe of Spanish exploded through the phone. The only words he understood were his and Callie's names. "Mr. Torres?"

"Give me that Carlos." A female voice came on the line. "Hello?"

Mark's frown deepened. "Who's this?"

"Rosa, Callie's mother. I'm sorry but my husband is understandably upset. We'll be on the first available flight."

"Let me now when you'll be arriving and I'll…"

"We'll take a cab. You need to be there for my daughter Dr. Sloan. She thinks a lot of you."

Mark nodded. "I think I lot of her too."

"Is she in good hands?"

"The best."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that Callie and Arizona were treating a boy in the ER when a couple of other boys showed up. One of them had a gun."

"Dios mio, was Arizona hurt too?"

"She's being looked at right now but she seems to be all right."

"Good. It would destroy Callie if anything happened to her. Tell her to be strong and we'll be there as soon as possible."

"All right."

"And Dr. Sloan?"

"It's Mark."

"Will you do something else for me Mark?"

"Anything."

"If you see my little girl before we get there will you…" It was clear she was crying. "Will you tell her we love her?"

Mark swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "I will."

There was a whispered, "Thank you," before the line disconnected.

He closed his eyes, willing his tears away. Not that crying was beneath him as a man, he just didn't have time. He needed to get back to Arizona.

He tucked her cell phone in his pocket and jogged back into the hospital. He called from the ambulance bay so it didn't take him long to reach curtain three. Derek was shining a penlight in Arizona's eyes as Yang stood off to the side, arms crossed over her chest. "How is she?"

Derek glanced at him over his shoulder. "I was just about to tell her that I don't see any signs of concussion."

"Does that mean I can go?" Arizona asked.

"I'd like to…"

"Derek, you just told me that I don't have a concussion. I'm fine."

"But the chief…"

"The chief is trying to cover the hospital's ass. Just give me whatever forms I need to sign so I can get out of here and find out what's going on with Calliope."

Derek nodded, knowing he would react the same way if it was Meredith who had been hurt. "Fine. Go."

"Thanks." Arizona looked at Mark as she climbed off the exam table. "Did you reach Calliope's parents?"

"I spoke to both of them. They'll be here as soon as they can."

"Dr. Robbins?"

No one had noticed the strange man who was standing in the doorway. Mark and Derek took an instinctive step in front of Arizona as Christina pushed away from the wall and made sure the pediatrician was behind her.

Mark eyed the newcomer. "Can we help you?"

The man gave him an appreciative look. "I'm Detective Evans." He pulled his shield out of his pocket, flipping it open so both men could read it. "I need to ask Dr. Robbins some questions."

"You can't." Christina piped in. "She's on her way up to surgery."

"Surgery?" The man looked surprised. "I didn't realize she was injured as well."

"I'm not." Arizona pushed past Christina before shoving her way between Mark and Derek. "I just have well meaning colleagues." She gave them each a look before returning her attention to the detective. "I'm Arizona Robbins, Detective Evans. Are you here to take my statement?"

"I am."

"You don't have to do this right now." Mark spoke over him. "He can come back some other time."

"He _should_ come back some other time." Derek corrected him.

"It's fine." Arizona assured them. "I want to get this over with so I can concentrate on Calliope."

"Thank you Dr. Robbins. This shouldn't take long." He flipped open the notepad in his hand. "You were in the trauma room when the shooting occurred?"

"Yes. Calliope… Dr. Torres and I were paged to treat a patient."

"The mayor's son, Jacob Jenkins."

Arizona nodded. "We didn't know who he was until we arrived at the hospital. We were under the impression that he was the victim of a random gang beating."

"That wasn't the case?"

"No. He told us that he was supposed to be joining the gang but backed out when he learned his initiation was to rob an older couple in his neighborhood."

"The mayor's kid was going to join a gang?" Mark scoffed. "What's this world coming to?"

"What happened next?" Detective Evans ignored his comment.

"Dr. Torres and I were examining Jacob when two boys came into the room. Calliope asked what they wanted and they said they were members of the same gang who hurt Jacob. They were there to finish what they started. Since I was closest to the phone Calliope told me to call security."

"Are these the boys?"

Arizona accepted the Polariods he gave her. "Yes." She nodded, knowing she would never forget either of their faces. "That's them."

"Thanks." He took them back. "Did you call security?"

"I never got a chance. One of the boys said it wasn't a good idea. Calliope tried to distract them so I could get to the phone but when the other boy realized what I was doing he pulled a gun." She paused, the scene replaying through her mind. A flash of silver, knowing the boy wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger, Callie's yell as the gun went off.

"Dr. Robbins?"

"That's enough for now." Mark stepped in again. "You're obviously upsetting her." He gripped Arizona's arm. "Come on. You're white as a sheet. We're getting out of here."

"He's right Dr. Robbins." Detective Evans clicked his pen. "I can always come back when…"

"No." Arizona interrupted him. "Like I said, I'd rather get this over with now. I don't want to…" She clinched her jaw. "Dealing with Calliope's injury is going to be hard enough without having to rehash what happened a dozen different times. There's really not much more to tell."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

"All right." The detective clicked his pen again. "Please continue."

"As I said, one of the boys drew a gun. Everything after that happened so fast it's a blur. He pointed it at me, Calliope yelled, the gun went off and something knocked me into the wall. The next thing I knew I was on the floor and the nurse assisting us was saying my name."

"Did you black out?"

"No, but I was stunned. The nurse pointed out that Calliope… that she…" Tears blurred her vision again.

"It's all right Dr. Robbins. We already have the nurse's statement that Dr. Torres stepped in front of you as the gun was fired. The impact of the bullet hitting her knocked you both back into the wall."

"Callie stepped in front of you?" Mark echoed his words.

Christina was equally shocked. "She saved your life."

"The nurse helped me move Calliope so we could lay her on the floor." Arizona's tears were flowing. "I tried to help her but the boy with the gun wouldn't let the nurse get what we needed and then the police came in. I tried to save her… I did, but…"

"Shh." Mark pulled her into his arms as she broke down, looking at the detective over the top of her head. "She's done."

"Right." Detective Evans agreed. "Dr. Robbins, the nurse mentioned that you and Dr. Torres are involved."

"Why are you bringing that up?" Christina growled. "They're being a couple had nothing to do with that little bastard pulling a gun and shooting Callie."

"Christina." Derek frowned at her.

"Well it didn't." She glared at the detective.

"I just wanted to say that I hope Dr. Torres is all right. My wife was a detective too and was shot in the line of duty a year and a half ago."

"You said was." Derek gave him a sympathetic look. "She didn't make it?"

"She did, but she's on maternity leave right now. We just had our first child, a boy."

Christina mumbled, "Congratulations," avoiding the man's gaze in her version of embarrassment.

"What I'm trying to say is I know what you're going through Dr. Robbins. I'm the lead on this case so I'll make sure none of the other detectives working it bother you. Here's my card." He handed it to Mark. "If we need more information I'll contact you personally. And hopefully I'll be able to come back and interview Dr. Torres when she's feeling better." He gave a little nod before leaving the room.

Mark was still cradling Arizona in his arms. "Do you need to sit down?"

She shook her head. "I just want to get upstairs and find out what's happening with Calliope."

"Me too." Mark kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the curtained cubicle.

"Yang." Derek called out to her as she started to follow them. "Tell Arizona my thoughts are with Callie."

Christina nodded, not trusting her voice to answer. She liked giving off an air of being cold and detached because it made people leave her alone. But she did allow herself to get close to a select few. Meredith was her person and Owen was her man but Callie ranked right up there as her roommate. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have her around anymore.

"Ow! Do you have to be so damn rough!"

Christina nearly plowed into Mark and Arizona when Arizona suddenly stopped.

"Arizona?" Mark looked down at her. "What's the matter?"

"I want a different doctor! I want the best damn doctor you have in this whole hospital!"

Arizona swallowed hard. "That's him."

Christina frowned. "Him who?"

"The one who shot Calliope."

The curtain for the cubicle they were passing was pushed back to reveal the gunman handcuffed to a gurney with three police officers standing around him.

"Her." The boy started struggling when he saw her. "I want that doctor. If she was good enough for the mayor's baby she's good enough for me."

Jackson looked shocked to see them. "Dr. Robbins."

"Yeah, Dr. Robbins." The boy repeated her name. "That's who I want."

Mark tightened his grip on her shoulders. "Come on Arizona."

"I'm sorry." Jackson swallowed hard. "I didn't know she was out here. We were just about to transport him upstairs to remove the bullet in his leg. The other one just grazed his arm."

"Like any of us care." Christina waved away his apology.

"Hey! Where are you going?" The boy struggled harder against the handcuffs.

"Stop that." One of the officers warned him.

"But it's her job to help me. She's a doctor. Bitch, it's your job to help me!"

Arizona tore away from Mark to face him. "My name is not bitch and I might be a doctor but I would never treat someone like you."

The boy frowned. "Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a monster. You have no consideration for anyone or anything. Life means nothing to you and that makes me sick." Her voice dripped with venom. "Do you have any idea who you shot today? One of the kindest most compassionate women I've ever met. She helps people everyday and now she might... She could..." She clinched her jaw. "You might have robbed this world of a truly amazing person. I would say I hope you'll be able to live with yourself after what you've done in the hopes that it would make you feel guilty but it won't because you're heartless. And you're not worth any more of my time."

With that Arizona turned on her heal and stalked away.

Mark glared at the kid. "You're lucky you have babysitters. Otherwise I might have had the chance to do something you'd regret." He started after Arizona.

Christina shook her head. "You really are pathetic. I hope you realize that." She gave him her best sneer before hurrying after the others. She caught up with them just in time to step into the elevator as the doors were closing.

Mark was looking at Arizona. "Did that make you feel better blondie?"

"No Mark," her voice was heavy with sadness. "It didn't."


	5. Chapter 5

It was a gorgeous day. Birds were singing. The sky was blue. The sun was shining. Normally Arizona would have drank it all in and been even perkier than normal but not today. As a matter of fact she would probably never be perky again. What was the point?

"Arizona?"

She looked up when she heard her name to see Mark standing at the now open door of the limo. She hadn't realized they'd stopped let alone that he had already gotten out and was waiting for her. She reached for his proffered hand, giving it a gentle squeeze once she was safely out of the car. He had been a rock through this whole ordeal. If they weren't friends before they certainly were now.

Mark kept her hand in his as they started away from the limo. Christina and Lexie fell into step beside them, Lexie giving her yet another sympathetic look while Christina stared straight ahead. It was comforting to have a few familiar faces around. She would never be able to thank the three of them for coming with her. It was a long way from Seattle to Florida.

She swallowed hard as they approached the Torres family. Her glance skirted past them to the elaborate headstone with the breathtakingly beautiful angel statue behind it. _Calliope Iphegenia Torres_ had already been etched on the stone in elaborate calligraphy letters. It sounded strange but it was mesmerizing, just as Callie had been.

"Arizona?"

The sound of Mark's voice pulled her out of her musings. She didn't realize she had stopped to stare. She gave him a weak attempt at a nod and they continued on their way.

But as they got closer things changed. The sky overhead darkened and the temperature dropped. She started to turn to Mark for an explanation but something else caught her eye. It was Callie.

"Arizona?"

She ignored Mark completely, her eyes fixed on her lover. Callie was still in her bloodstained scrubs, her skin almost transparent in the pallor of death. She grinned at Arizona, motioning for her to come closer.

"Arizona."

She tried to pull away but Mark's grip tightened on her hand. "Calliope?" Her heart skipped a beat as her girlfriend started to walk away. "Calliope!"

She ran to catch her, not wanting to lose her again. But she wasn't watching where she was going and fell headlong into the open grave in front of the headstone.

Her body jerked as her eyes snapped open, expecting to see the walls of the grave around her but finding Mark's face instead.

"Are you all right?" He looked down at her worriedly.

She frowned. "What's going on?"

"You were having a dream." Lexie answered.

"More like a nightmare." Christina commented.

A nightmare. That's all it was. A particularly nasty figment of her subconscious imagination.

She sat up straighter, realizing she had been sprawled in a chair. They were in one of the bigger consult rooms on the surgical ward. It's where she, Mark and Christina had settled after leaving the ER. Lexie had joined them not long after, bringing a tray of various drinks from the cafeteria. That explained why the three of them had been in her dream.

"Sorry, I must have dozed off." She winced ever so slightly as she stretched, her body protesting the movement. The chair wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world and she was more than a little sore from slamming into the wall earlier. Not that she was complaining. She was the lucky one. "Has anyone come out yet?"

"No." Christina crumpled the coffee cup in her hand. "And it's starting to piss me off."

"No news is good news Yang. Keep telling yourself that." Mark put his hand on Arizona's shoulder. "Are you sure you're all right? Are you hurting? Do you need anything?"

Callie. She desperately needed Callie. "No." She shook her head. "I'm fine." She stretched again. "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes."

"I can't believe I fell asleep." She reprimanded herself.

"Cut yourself some slack." Mark gave her shoulder a squeeze. "It's been a long day."

They all turned toward the door when it opened.

"Chief." Lexie was the first one to greet him.

Arizona sprang from the chair, nearly knocking Mark over in the process. Not that that stopped him from joining the girls as they swarmed the chief.

"How is she?"

"Are they through with her surgery?"

"How bad was the damage?"

"Is she going to be all right?"

"Slow down." Richard raised his hands to silence them. "I can't answer all of you at once."

"How is Calliope?" Arizona swallowed hard when he didn't answer immediately. Something wasn't right. "Did something go wrong? Does she need a specialist? Because I'm not above calling whoever she needs, even if it's Erica Hahn. Just tell me whatever it is and I'll do it."

"She doesn't need Erica Hahn."

"Then what is? And be honest." She looked into his eyes. "Please."

The Chief sighed. "She crashed again on the table."

Arizona's hand went to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. "Is she..."

"No." He was quick to answer. "They got her back but the bullet caused a lot of damage. It looks like it went through her lung, hit her scapula, ricocheted back through the subclavian artery and lodged in her clavicle. She lost a lot of blood so they're giving her transfusions and they've got a chest tube in place to help with her lung. They're working on repairing the artery and lung right now."

"Was there a lot of tissue damage?"

The chief nodded in response to Christina's question. "And before you ask, we have no idea what long term effects that might have. Right now Hunt and Bailey are more concerned with repairing what they can. She'll need another surgery once she's more stabilized to repair her clavicle."

"Another surgery?" Lexie echoed the words.

"Her body has been through a lot. She's weak right now. They don't want to keep her in surgery any longer than necessary."

"Right." Arizona nodded, trying to process everything she'd just heard. "So it's still going to be a while."

"I'm afraid so." Richard squeezed her hand. "But she's holding her own. Callie is tough Arizona. She won't give up without a fight."

"That's what I keep saying." Mark agreed.

"I need to get back. I'm sorry it took so long this time but I wanted to be sure…"

"It's all right." Arizona cut him off.

"I'll update you again soon."

"Thanks." Mark clapped him on the arm as he let go of Arizona and left the room. "See, what did I tell you? She's going to be fine."

"You must have heard a different conversation than I did." Christina mumbled.

Mark frowned at her. "What was that?"

"Nothing." She picked up the empty coffee carafe. "I'm going on a coffee run. Does anyone want anything?" She didn't give any of them a chance to answer before leaving.

"There goes the grapevine." Mark huffed as she left. "Now everyone in the hospital will know what the Chief told us."

Lexie gave him a look. "You don't know that."

"Are you kidding? She'll go to the cafeteria by way of that group of jackals she calls friends. Within twenty minutes everyone will either have Callie in the morgue or her career as a surgeon will be over."

"Mark." Lexie rolled her eyes toward Arizona.

"Shit Arizona I'm sorry."

"No, you're right." Arizona nodded. "I, uh… I need some air."

"Wait." Mark tried to catch her as she left.

"Let her go."

"But…"

"She's got a lot to think about right now." Lexie reasoned. "She'll be back when she's ready."

Mark thought about it for a second before sinking down in one of the chairs. "Will I ever learn to keep my big mouth shut?"

"Probably not." Lexie watched him. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

"Me? I'm fine."

"This is me you're talking to Mark. I know how much Callie means to you. You're 'everything's going to be fine' routine might work with everyone else but not me." She went to kneel in front of him. "Talk to me."

"I…" He sighed when she raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm scared Lex. She's my best friend. What am I going to do if she…" He couldn't bring himself to say the word. "That's why I'm trying to stay positive."

"That's good, but it's just us here now. So let it out."

He stared into her eyes for a moment before his tears started to fall. "I can't lose her Lexie. I love her."

"I know." She climbed into his lap to hold him close. "And she loves you too."

He clung to her, too emotional to speak and she held him, knowing nothing she said would take away his pain.

Meanwhile Arizona hurried toward her destination, trying to ignore the stares and whispered conversations directed at her. As long as they left her alone she really didn't care what anyone else did or said. All she could think about was Callie. Maybe if she concentrated all her energy on her girlfriend Callie would feel it and pull through her surgery. And it wouldn't hurt to get some help from someone with a little more clout.

She slipped into the chapel, glad to find it empty. She sat down in the second pew back, resting her elbows on the back of the pew in front of her and clasping her hands together.

"It's me again."

She looked at the crucifix on the wall before her.

"I know you probably get tired of hearing my voice but I'm a pediatric surgeon and while I'm good at what I do, I can still use all the help I can get sometimes. But today I'm not here about a patient." She swallowed hard. "I'm here about Calliope."

Her voice quivered as tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"She risked her life to save me today and now... Now she's fighting for hers. I know she's special and talented and extraordinary and would fit in perfectly where you are but I don't want her to go. I need her."

Her breath hitched in her chest.

"I love her. I love her more than I've ever loved anything or anyone. And I think she knows but I've never told her. She needs to hear it."

She nodded.

"So please let her live. Please don't take her away. I'll take great care of her. Forever."

Hope blossomed in her heart. Forever. She liked the sound of that.

Now all she needed was Callie to make it come true.

_A/N: Happy Valentine's Day everybody! Sorry there wasn't any Callie & Arizona fluff here but there's plenty to come in the future._


	6. Chapter 6

"You did good work in there." Owen commented as they walked down the hallway of the surgical ward.

"I'm not in the mood for small talk."

"I wasn't…"

"Sure you were." Bailey cut him off. "We haven't worked together much since you started here Dr. Hunt. Otherwise you would know that I'm not one to pat myself on the back after a surgery."

He struggled for something to say. He wasn't normally intimidated by much thanks to his military background but Miranda Bailey was a different story. While he might not agree with her Nazi nickname he definitely understood where it came from. She was stern and strict and extremely good at her job, which gave her a natural confidence few others possessed.

She suddenly stopped to face him. "Look, I'm sorry. It's been a long day and I'm personally getting sick of having to do surgery on people I work with. Especially emergency surgery on friends like Callie. So thanks for the compliment. You did good work too."

He nodded, knowing better than to say anything as they started walking again. He understood where she was coming from. He hadn't been at the hospital very long but he had already operated on two people he counted as friends, George and Callie. He just hoped his skills as a surgeon helped Callie more than they had George.

"Oh." Lexie Grey squeaked in surprise as she almost ran into them. "I was just uh..." She used her thumb to point at the door behind her. "Arizona's in the chapel. Mark sent me to check on her and I was just on my way back to the consult room." She swallowed hard as she looked back and forth between them. "How's Callie?"

"Dr. Hunt, would you mind taking Lexie back to everyone else and filling them in on the surgery while I talk to Dr. Robbins?"

"Not at all." Owen agreed.

Lexie's eyes were wide as Owen put his hand on her back to guide her away. "Is it that bad?"

Bailey didn't wait to hear his answer before walking into the chapel. She paused as the door closed silently behind her, looking at Arizona for a moment before striding toward her. "Come with me."

Arizona nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her voice. "Miranda." Her scare was quickly forgotten. "How's Calliope?"

"Come with me." She repeated herself.

"Why?"

"Just come on."

"But."

"Come on." Bailey demanded, holding out her hand.

"Is Calliope all right?" She frowned when the only answer she got was an impatient gesture of Miranda's hand. She hesitated a moment longer before reluctantly slipping her hand into the other woman's.

Bailey held on long enough to pull her to her feet. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"The ICU." She answered as they left the chapel and started toward the elevator.

"You mean Calliope is..."

"Alive." Bailey finished for her. "She's weak and I know the Chief told you we almost lost her again on the table but she fought like hell and she pulled through."

"She's alive." Tears of joy filled Arizona's eyes. "She's alive and in the ICU." She nodded, trying to regain her composure as they got on the elevator and Miranda hit the button for the floor they wanted. "What's her condition?"

"I knew you were going to ask me that. Just like I know I could talk to you until I'm blue in the face but until you see for yourself that she's still here you won't listen. And then when you start to listen you'll demand to see her chart so you'll know all the details for yourself. So that's why I'm taking you to the ICU. Grey and Karev should have her settled by now."

"Thank you Miranda. Thank you for saving her life."

"There's no thanks necessary."

"Yes there is." Arizona gripped the shorter woman's arm. "And you're right, I will want to see her chart. But until we get there can you tell me how she is?"

The ghost of a smile played across Bailey's lips as they stepped off the elevator. "I knew you were going to ask that too. What exactly did the Chief tell you?"

"He said the bullet went through Calliope's lung, hit her shoulder blade ricocheted back through her subclavian artery and lodged in her collar bone."

"That's right." She nodded. "We repaired the damage to the lung and artery and inserted a chest tube to help re-inflate the lung. She lost a lot of blood so we're still transfusing her and we're going to keep her sedated and on a ventilator until we're sure her lung is strong enough for her to breathe on her own without collapsing again. We've got her listed as critical but if her vital signs continue to improve tonight we should be able to move her to a regular room sometime tomorrow."

"The Chief mentioned she might have to have another surgery to repair her collar bone."

"We don't think that will be necessary. The bullet caused a clean break when it hit the bone. It should heal without any pins or screws."

"What about nerve and tissue damage?"

"At this point we don't know. She'll definitely need physical therapy once her clavicle heals and I plan on asking Shepherd to keep a close eye on her. That's the best we can do for now." Bailey stopped when the reached the nurse's station. "Hold up."

"What? Why?" Arizona's heart sank at the expression on the other woman's face. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No, don't be ridiculous." Bailey waved away the question. "I just want to make sure you're ready for this."

"Ready to see Calliope? Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because this is Callie we're talking about." She raised her hand to stop Arizona from commenting when she opened her mouth to reply. "I know you're a doctor and you've seen Lord only knows how many people in the ICU but none of them were her. She's not just another patient, she's the one who brings that goofy grin to your face every time you see her. She's the woman you love. That makes it different."

"You're right, it does."

"Of course I'm right. So take a second to..."

"I wasn't done." Arizona interrupted her. "I can't tell you how I'm going to react to seeing Calliope because I don't know. But standing here, knowing that I'm so close and still haven't seen her is tearing me apart. She stepped in front of a bullet to save my life Miranda. I need to be with her. I need her to know that everything is going to be all right. That she's not alone."

Bailey blinked, trying to cover the tears that had filled her eyes. "I'd say you're ready."

Arizona gave her an appreciative half quirk of her lips before following her. But despite the warning she's just received she wasn't prepared for what greeted her when Bailey led her into one of the ICU rooms.

The normally larger than life Callie looked tiny in the bed, a ventilator tube snaking down her throat to feed oxygen to her lungs. Machines on both sides of the bed monitored everything from her heart rate to her temperature to her blood pressure. Her left arm was held securely against her body by a sling to prevent her from accidently moving it. But what shocked her the most was how pale her girlfriend was. It reminded her of the bloodied Callie from her nightmare.

"Hey." Meredith greeted them. "Alex got paged to the ER but I thought I should stay."

"Thanks." Bailey gestured for the chart in the resident's hands, ignoring the look she got as Meredith handed it over. "Here you go Dr. Robbins." She in turn gave it to a still stunned Arizona. "I'll be right outside if you need me. Come on Grey."

And just like that Arizona was alone with Callie. She looked from the figure in the bed to the chart in her hand and decided to be a doctor first. Tears filled her eyes as she went through the chart, the notes it contained confirming what Miranda had already told her and even more that had gone unsaid. With the damage to her lung and artery it was a miracle that Callie had survived long enough to reach the OR let alone made it off the table alive.

She approached the bed slowly, putting the chart on the foot of it before walking around the side to get a better look at its occupant. Her hand shook as she reached for Callie's hand, a sob escaping her throat as her fingers made contact with warm skin.

"Oh Calliope." Tears streamed down her face as she placed a gentle kiss on Callie's forehead before pulling back to drink in the features she adored. "I..." She shook her head. "You have to keep fighting Calliope. You can't leave me. Not like this. Please."

She had so much more to say but her emotions got the better of her so she buried her head against her girlfriend's good shoulder and gave in to her tears. She wished those strong arms would hold her close but she couldn't be greedy. Callie was alive and that was the important thing for now. Everything else could wait until she was awake.

"And I'm telling you this isn't a good time. She just..."

"There's never a good time for something like this Bailey."

Arizona straightened up quickly, keeping her grip on Callie's hand as the Chief and Miranda came into the room. "What..." She used her free hand to swipe at her cheeks. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry Robbins," the Chief gave her a sympathetic look. "I know you've only been with her a few minutes but I need you to come with me right away."

"Why?"

"It's Wallace Anderson. He died a couple of hours ago."

Arizona closed her eyes. "Oh no."

"Larry Jennings, the board member who represented the hospital at our meeting with his parents, is with the Andersons and demanded that I come get you."

"Why?" Miranda butted in. "There's nothing she can do for the boy now."

"I know." The Chief sighed. "I tried to explain the situation but he wouldn't listen. He threatened Dr. Robbins position here at the hospital if I didn't come find her."

"What?!" Bailey was steaming. "Why would he..."

"Because Wallace's parents were going to donate twenty-five million dollars to the hospital." Arizona's voice was hallow. "Someone's head has to be on the chopping block for him dying even though I voiced my opinion that I thought the surgery was a mistake from the very beginning."

"Arizona..."

"No, it's fine." Arizona kept him from saying more. "I'll go face the music. But if he fires me you can't kick me out of the hospital."

The chief clinched his jaw. "He's not going to fire you."

"If he does you can't kick me out of the hospital." She repeated herself. "I have to be here for Calliope."

"And you will be, with your job intact."

"I wish I was as confident about that as you are." Arizona returned her attention to her girlfriend. "I'm sorry Calliope, I have to go for a little while but I'll be as quick as I can." She kissed her cheek. "Make sure you're still here when I get back."

"She will be." Bailey assured her. "I'll stay with her while you're gone."

"Thank you." Arizona gave Callie's hand a loving squeeze before letting go, squaring her shoulders as she turned to face the Chief. "What are we waiting for?"

The trip from the ICU to the pediatric ward was a silent one. The Chief obviously felt bad about taking her away from Callie but Arizona couldn't come up with anything to say to him.

Larry Jennings hurried toward them as they approached Wallace's room. "Where the hell have you been Dr. Robbins?"

"Mr. Jennings..."

He turned his angry glare on Richard. "I wasn't talking to you." He faced Arizona again. "I asked you a question."

"I..." Arizona swallowed hard, reminding herself that now wasn't the time to give in to the issues she had with authority figures. "I was on the surgical ward waiting for word on Dr. Torres."

"Great. So while you were downstairs pining over your lesbian lover one of your patients was dying! That is completely inexcusable!!"

Paul Anderson frowned as he walked out of his son's room. "What's going on out here?" His jaw jumped when he saw Arizona. "Dr. Robbins."

"I'm sorry Paul." Larry apologized. "I shouldn't be talking to her here. We'll..."

"Arizona?" Bethany Anderson appeared beside her husband.

"Bethany." Tears shimmered in Arizona's eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"That's too little too late Dr. Robbins." Jennings snapped at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Paul's frown deepened. "You're not blaming her for what happened with Wallace."

"I most certainly am. It was her responsibility as his doctor to..."

"Try to give our son more time, which she did." Bethany finished for him. "Even though she thought it was a bad idea she did the surgery."

"Because we told her to." Her husband continued the thought. "If anyone is responsible for what happened it's us." He shook his head as he looked at Arizona. "I'm sorry I pushed for the surgery. I just wanted more time to find a cure."

"Which you might have had if Dr. Robbins was doing her job properly." Jennings cut in again.

"No." Paul contradicted him. "We've both already told you, she's not to blame and we won't support any efforts you make to reprimand her. As a matter of fact we'll use the twenty-five million we discussed before to hire legal council for her instead of donating it to the hospital if you push the issue."

"You're still going to donate the money?" Jennings was clearly shocked.

"Arizona was amazing with Wallace." Bethany answered. "We want Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital to be able to continue to offer families like ours the best care possible for their children and to continue to try to find a cure for Wallace's condition. That's why we still want to donate the money."

"But only if Dr. Robbins keeps all of her privileges as a doctor." Paul added. "She's the reason you'll get the money, not your brown nosing or show boating, Mr. Jennings."

"Her position here isn't in jeopardy." Chief Webber assured him, ignoring the look he was getting from Jennings.

Bethany stepped forward to grip Arizona's hand. "We heard about what happened earlier. How is Dr. Torres?"

"She's in the ICU right now." Arizona somehow managed to find her voice.

"Does she have good doctors?" Paul asked. "If not I can bring in anyone you want. Money's no object."

"Thanks but she's in the best possible hands." A tear meandered down her cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't with Wallace when he..."

"Don't." Bethany stopped her. "You did everything you possibly could for him."

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Dr. Percy joined them. "But he's ready if you'd like to see him."

"We would." Fresh tears filled Bethany's eyes at the statement.

"I'll take you." Arizona offered.

"No." Paul shook his head again. "You need to be with Dr. Torres right now. I'm sure Mr. Jennings wouldn't mind escorting us."

"I..." Jennings wanted to protest but knew he couldn't. "I'd be happy to."

"I'll come along as well." Chief Webber volunteered.

"Good." Paul looked at Arizona again. "Thank you Dr. Robbins, for everything."

"Yes, thank you." Bethany squeezed her arm. "I hope everything works out with Dr. Torres."

"We both do." Paul gave her a nod.

Guilty gnawed at Arizona as she watched them walk away because as kind and generous as the Andersons were and as much as Wallace meant to her, she was relieved that if she had to lose one person that day it was Wallace and not Callie.

She wondered if that made her a horrible person as she started back toward the elevators.


	7. Chapter 7

"What in the name of..." Miranda Bailey sighed, shaking her head as she came into Callie's room. It wasn't any wonder Arizona didn't hound her for information on the orthopedist's condition when she started rounds that morning. She was in a chair she had pulled as close as humanly possible to the bed, slouched over with her head on the mattress and Callie's right hand held firmly in one of her own as she slept.

"No one had the heart to tell her she couldn't stay." Meredith spoke in a hushed tone. "Besides, I think having her around is really helping Callie. She's stable."

"Robbins still shouldn't be in here." Bailey grumbled as she took the chart Meredith offered, pleased to see she was right about Callie's vital signs.

"I think it's sweet."

"That's because Shepherd is rubbing off on you."

Meredith frowned as Bailey started toward the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Examining my patient."

"But..."

"Dr. Robbins is a big girl. If I wake her up she'll understand."

"Huh?" As if on cue Arizona sat up, blurrily looking at the two women. "What's going on? Is Calliope all right?" She quickly looked at her lover, relief washing over her features when she saw that Callie was still with her.

Bailey continued toward the bed, giving Arizona an icy gaze. "What are you doing sleeping in here?"

"I needed to be with her." She yawned, clearly not intimidated in the least. "I wasn't in anyone's way and I didn't hurt anything." She winced as she moved her head. "Except maybe my neck."

"That's what you get." Bailey pulled her stethoscope out of her lab coat pocket. "If you slept in an on call room or better yet your own apartment like a normal person you wouldn't have a crick in your neck. But no, you had to be a rule breaker." Her voice trailed off as she listened to Callie's chest.

Arizona anxiously watched her, raising her eyebrows as she removed the stethoscope from her ears. "Well?"

"You're right Grey, her heartbeat is strong and her breath sounds are normal. She's stable."

"She is?"

Bailey ignored Arizona's question. "Let's stop the sedative we're giving her so she can start to come around. We should be able to remove the ventilator once she does."

"Really?" Arizona tried again.

"Really." Bailey couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"That's super! Did you hear that Calliope?" She stood up to kiss her on the cheek. "It's time to wake up."

"She's waking up already? That's a good sign right?"

All eyes in the room turned to find Lexie standing in the doorway.

"Sorry." She blushed. "I couldn't help but overhear."

Bailey frowned at her. "What are you doing here Grey? If I'm not mistaken you're supposed to be in the pit."

"Callie's parents are in the family room." Lexie was quick to answer. "Mark sent me to make sure it was all right for them to come in."

"Meredith, go get them." Bailey waited until the older Grey nodded before returning her attention to Lexie. "You go with her and tell Dr. Sloane you're not his personal messenger then get back to the pit."

"You can come see her later." Arizona offered, hating the hurt look on Lexie's face.

Lexie flashed her a grin before following her sister out of the room.

Bailey started making notes in Callie's chart as Arizona moved the chair away from the bed. A few seconds later she moved it again, turning her head to make sure it looked all right before returning to Callie's side to smooth the sheet covering her.

Bailey finally looked up when the blonde started fussing with Callie's hair. "Nervous?"

"Nervous?" Arizona furrowed her brow as she repeated the word. "Why would I be nervous? Just because I've never met Calliope's mother and the last time her father was here he brought the family priest in the hopes of convincing her our relationship was a sin?"

Bailey chuckled. "Yeah, something like that."

"I'll be fine." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince more, herself or Bailey. "Calliope is getting better, that's what's important."

"We tried to get out last night but there were storms in the area and everything was cancelled. By the time flights resumed Carlos had to charter a private jet to get us here today."

Arizona tensed as a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Callie and Mr. Torres appeared in the doorway with Meredith.

"Hija."

"Mi pequeno."

They spoke at the same time as they rushed toward the bed. Arizona moved out of the way, giving them access to Callie's uninjured side. Mrs. Torres instantly seized her hand while Mr. Torres stood behind her, staring at their child.

"Why is that machine breathing for her?" His voice was full of fear. "Can't she breathe on her own?"

"She can but she needs a little help right now." Bailey answered. "One of her lungs collapsed. The ventilator is keeping her healthy lung from getting tired until her injured one re-inflates."

He tore his gaze away from Callie to look at her. "Do I know you?"

"I'm Miranda Bailey, Mr. Torres. We met briefly the last time you were here to see Callie."

"Call me Carlos. Are you treating my daughter?"

"Yes. I'm one of the surgeons who operated on her."

"What happened?" Mrs. Torres' voice shook with emotion.

"We were both paged to the Emergency Room to take care of the mayor's son." Arizona nervously replied. Authority figures were nothing on the intimidation scale compared to your significant other's parents. But she couldn't run away and hide. The Torres' deserved to know what happened to their daughter and she had no intention of leaving Callie anytime soon. So she was going to have to suck it up and deal with her nerves.

"He had been beaten by some gang members for refusing to follow through on the initiation they gave him when he wanted to join. While we were treating him two members of the gang came into the room." The words kept tumbling from her mouth.

"One of them had a gun." Her voice quivered as the scene replayed through her mind. "I was trying to call security when he... The boy pointed the gun at me. Calliope, she uh..." Tears filled her eyes. "She stepped in front of me when he fired."

Carlos frowned. "She was hurt protecting you?"

Arizona nodded, trying not to flinch at the intensity of his question.

"How could this have happened? What were those boys doing in the Emergency Room? Didn't anyone see one of them had a gun?! Why don't they have metal detectors or security guards to pat people down when they come in? What kind of a hospital lets just anyone walk in off the street?!"

"The kind that treats patients Carlos." Mrs. Torres chastised him. "And stop shouting. It isn't helping anything."

"I'm sorry but the girls should be safe here." He noticed the expression on Arizona's face. "Both of them." His eyes were drawn back to his daughter. "Is she going to be all right?"

"The bullet damaged one of her arteries as well as her lung but she's doing amazingly well so far." Bailey spoke again. "Her vital signs stabilized overnight and we're hoping to take her off the ventilator later today. Once we do she can be moved to a private room."

"How long will she be in the hospital?"

"That depends on her Mrs. Torres."

"Please, call me Rosa."

Bailey nodded. "Like I said, that really depends on Callie. I know she'll try to push herself to be up and around as soon as possible."

"Yes she will." Rosa and Arizona spoke at the same time.

"But she's going to have to take it slow. The last thing we need is her aggravating any of her injuries."

"I'm sure Arizona will be able to handle her." Carlos gave her a nod. "She certainly put me in my place the last time I was here."

"He meant that in a good way dear." Mrs. Torres saved her from saying anything.

"Oh." Arizona blushed.

Bailey pulled her pager from her pocket when it started beeping. "Looks like they need me in the ER. Mr. and Mrs. Torres I'm going to leave you in Arizona's very capable hands. And I'll tell the nursing staff not to hound you about leaving. Callie will probably be out for a while yet but have someone page me if she starts to come around. Otherwise I'll be back as soon as I can." She turned to Meredith, who had been hovering in the doorway. "Well don't just stand there Grey, let's go."

Once again Arizona was left along in the room only this time there were three Torres' instead of just one.

"She's so pale."

"But she's strong Carlos." Rose gripped his hand as they stared at their daughter. "Just like you."

"This shouldn't have happened."

"No, but it did and we'll make it through this just like we have everything else in her life. Together."

Carlos looked at her with unadulterated love in his eyes. "Together."

Arizona felt like an intruder. She didn't like the idea of being away from Callie but her parents obviously needed some time alone with her. She started to back out of the room to wait in the hallway.

"Arizona?"

She stopped in her tracks, a deer in the headlights look on her face.

"You're not in trouble." Rosa assured her. "I was just thinking of going to the cafeteria for some coffee and hoped you would accompany me."

"Callie comes by her love of coffee naturally." Carlos added.

"It was a long trip." Rosa defended herself.

"I'll stay with Calliope."

Rosa kissed his cheek. "I'll bring you some tea." She repeated the gesture with her daughter. "I'll be back soon bambina. And don't worry, I'll take good care of Arizona." She grabbed the blonde doctor's hand as she walked past her, pulling her out of the room. She didn't let go until they reached the elevator. "I have no idea where the cafeteria is so you're going to have to guide me from here."

"I..." Arizona was still confused as to what was going on.

"I'm sorry I volunteered you to come with me, but Carlo needs some time with Callie." She led the way into the elevator, letting Arizona pick which floor they wanted. "It's the only way to convince him she's going to be all right." She turned toward Arizona as the doors closed. "She is going to be all right, right?"

Arizona was struck by how much Callie looked like her mother. They had the same cheekbones, the same bottomless brown eyes and the same full plump lips. If Rosa was any indication Callie was going to age very gracefully.

"I know what Dr. Bailey said but I want to hear it from you." Rosa shook her head. "No, I need to hear it from you because Callie's so much more than just a patient where you're concerned."

They even had the same voice.

"So please, put my mind at ease. Tell me my daughter is going to OK."

Arizona would have known that expectant, half raising of the eyebrows anywhere. "Like Miranda said, she's going to have to take it slow." She gripped the older woman's forearm. "But she's going to be all right."

Rosa put her hand over Arizona's. "Thank you." The corner of her mouth turned up. "I'm sure you hear this from Callie all the time, but you have the most beautiful blue eyes."

She blushed. "She's mentioned it a time or two."

"I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't get involved when Carlos and Callie were fighting."

"No." Arizona shook her head. "Because it's none of my business."

"Of course it is. You're involved with my daughter and anything that affects her affects you. And I don't want you to think that I disapproved of your relationship. I'll admit I was a bit shocked considering she had always been with men but hearing her on the phone…" She closed her eyes. "She was so happy. Happier than I'd ever heard her before. Carlos noticed it too, that's why he came to Seattle. After everything she went through with George O'Malley he wanted to make sure she wasn't going to be hurt again. When she revealed she was dating you he thought it was some kind of joke. And when he realized it wasn't he didn't know how to react."

"I know it wasn't easy for him."

"No, it wasn't. You have to understand that Callie might be our child but she's always been Carlos' little girl. And like any father he thinks he knows what's best for her no matter what the situation. I can't remember how many arguments they've had because he oversteps his bounds and she calls him on it. Like bringing our priest with him to…"

"Pray away the gay." Arizona chimed in.

"Pray away the gay? Is that what Callie called it?" She chuckled when Arizona nodded. "That girl."

"She was very hurt by everyone's reaction." She knew she shouldn't say it but she couldn't stop herself. Rosa was being honest so she felt she should be too. "She thought she was going to lose her whole family."

"I didn't want to hurt her but I couldn't put myself in the middle either. Not this time. If I had one of them would have felt I was taking the other's side and it only would have made things worse. I knew Callie would eventually stand up to her father and make him see that it's her life and he needs to let her live it. Carlos said the conversation he had with you helped too."

"Oh, I... Uh..." Arizona stammered.

"You stood up to Carlos to protect the woman that you love." She looked into the pediatrician's eyes. "You do love my daughter." It was a statement, not a question.

"With all my heart."

"She loves you too but you already know that." Rosa smiled. "I have to say you're the first person she's been with that I actually like."

Arizona couldn't stop herself from returning her smile. "I'm flattered but you barely know me."

"You're all my daughter talks about. The way she gushes over you, it tells me just how much you mean to her. And I can see in your eyes how much she means to you. That's all I need to know." Tears stung Rosa's eyes, telling her she needed to lighten the mood before they both started crying. "So you should be flattered because I'm very picky about things concerning my girls. Especially when it comes to relationships."

"Z?"

They had barely stepped off the elevator when a voice called out.

"Z!"

Arizona didn't even have a chance to turn toward the source of the sound before a woman grabbed her in a bear hug, nearly knocking Mrs. Torres over in the process.

All Rosa could do was frown as the newcomer pulled back to place a kiss on Arizona's lips.


	8. Chapter 8

It was more of a peck on the lips than anything even remotely romantic and it didn't last very long but it still caught Arizona off guard. Who in their right mind just grabbed someone and started kissing them? Especially in front of their girlfriend's mother?

Her heart dropped to her toes at the thought of Rosa Torres standing there watching her in a lip lock with someone other than Callie. So much for liking her.

She was about to wedge her arm between herself and her attacker in a last ditch effort to salvage some of her pride when whoever it was pulled back. Her anger quickly turned to surprise when she saw who was holding her at arm's length. "Jayme?"

"Hey Z."

"Jayme!" A radiant smile lit up her face as threw her arms around the woman.

"It's good to see you too Z." Jayme readily returned the hug, whispering, "Is it against the law to hug in Seattle or something? Because that woman is giving us the evil eye."

"Oh." As hard as it was to imagine considering how worried she had been about Mrs. Torres just seconds ago she momentarily forgot about her in her excitement. "Rosa Torres this is Jayme McKinnon. Jayme this is Rosa Torres, Calliope's mother."

Jayme held out her right hand. "It's a pleasure Mrs. Torres."

Rosa gave her a once over as she took the proffered appendage. The girl was pretty enough with her lanky body, short black hair and piercing green eyes. Not anything compared to her Callie but she supposed some people would have found her attractive. She couldn't help but wonder how she knew Arizona.

"Jayme's been my best friend since high school." The blonde spoke, almost as if she had read the older woman's mind. "We met our first day of freshman year."

"Literally ran into each other in the hallway." Jayme added. "I helped her up and the rest, as they say, is history."

Rosa looked at the woman with renewed interest. She knew Callie and Arizona had a close knit group of friends at the hospital but her daughter had never mentioned any of Arizona's other friends.

"I can't believe you're really here." Arizona suddenly smacked her on the shoulder. "You haven't written in forever. I was worried!"

"Sorry." Jayme rubbed her arm. "Ow. You're a lot stronger than I remember."

"Whatever. Now you better tell me you haven't been home very long before I really have to hurt you."

"I just flew in this morning. I wanted to be here for your birthday but the weather on the east coast wasn't cooperating yesterday. Then I had to go on standby..." She shook her head. "But none of that matters. How was your birthday?"

After everything that happened with Callie Arizona completely forgot about it being her birthday the day before.

Jayme noticed the color leak from her friend's cheeks. "What's the matter?"

"I..." She swallowed hard, knowing she needed to just spit it out before she broke down completely. "There was a shooting here at the hospital yesterday. Calliope... she..."

"She saved Arizona's life." Rosa helped the struggling girl.

"Wait, are you saying Callie was shot? What? How?!"

"Two gang members came into the ER to hassle one of our patients." Arizona blinked back tears. "One of them had a gun."

"Was anyone else hurt?" Jayme breathed a silent sigh of relief when Arizona shook her head. "Did they catch the bastard?"

"Yes." Arizona answered.

Jayme gave Mrs. Torres a sidelong glance as Arizona nodded. "Sorry about that."

"No, you're right." Rosa agreed. "He's definitely a bastard."

Jayme rubbed Arizona's back. "Is Callie going to be all right?"

"Yes." Rosa quickly responded. "She's in the ICU right now but my daughter is a fighter. She's going to be just fine."

Jayme relaxed a little when she saw the same answer in Arizona's sad blue eyes. "I'm sorry Z." She pulled her into another hug.

Arizona wiped at the lone tear making its way down her cheek. "Did Mom know you were coming home? If so I'm going to have to yell at her for not telling me."

"No, Mom didn't know."

"Dad?"

"I didn't tell him but you know Dad and his connections."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I wanted it to be a birthday surprise."

Arizona put her arms around her friend. "You're one of the best presents I could ever ask for."

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that." Jayme held her tight. "That's why I came."

Rosa couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from turning up. Obviously the two women meant a lot to each other. It warmed her heart to know Arizona had someone to lean on right now.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, you should really be with Callie. I need to find a place to crash but how about if I come back later and we can grab some crappy cafeteria food for dinner?"

"You can stay at my place. I'll even lend you my car to get there. Calliope lives right across the street. I can stay there."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. You're family."

"Thanks Z. Now why don't we head to the locker room so I can get the keys and you can get back to Callie?"

Rosa noticed the longing in Arizona's eyes. "Actually we were just on our way to the cafeteria. Maybe you could join us and still come back later for dinner."

"I don't want to impose."

"You're not." Rosa assured her.

Jayme grinned as she slung her arm around Arizona's shoulders. "Then it's a date."

Arizona put her arm around Jayme's waist, leaning against her friend as they continued toward the cafeteria. "So Mom doesn't know you're here?"

"No. I thought I would surprise her and Dad once I was done visiting you."

Rosa furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry but whose parents are you talking about? Yours or hers?"

"Hers." Jayme answered. "Mine don't have anything to do with me."

"Why?"

"That's a really long story but the short version is I'm a disappointment."

"Only in their opinion." Arizona tightened her grip on her friend. "She's been an honorary Robbins since the first time she came home with me."

"That's because Dan and Karen are amazing."

"They're pretty fond of you too."

"It sounds like you were away for a while." Rosa was trying to keep up. "Were you traveling?"

"I was in the army. Medevac in Iraq." Jayme rubbed Arizona's back again when she felt her tense up. "I just got home from my last tour."

"You're a doctor too?" Rosa gave her an appreciative look when she nodded. "God bless you for your service."

"You two pick a table, I'll be right back with some coffee." Arizona hurried away.

Rosa watched her go. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Jayme trailed her with her eyes too. "Arizona's brother Danny died in Iraq."

"I remember Callie mentioning that. She said she doesn't talk about it very much."

"It's still hard for her. They were really close. That's part of the reason she moved to Seattle. Too many memories at her parent's place in Montana."

"Is that where she's from?"

"As of high school yes. Her father, Daniel, inherited a ranch from his grandfather. He still traveled for the military as a recruiter but Karen insisted that she, Arizona and Danny finally have a permanent home. Now Daniel's retired and on the ranch full time."

"Did I just hear you say ranch? Please don't tell me you're playing at being a cowgirl now."

Jayme smiled when she saw an all too familiar face behind Rosa. "O."

"O?" Christina looked back and forth between them with her normal dour expression.

"Jayme." Owen clapped her on the shoulder. "It's nice to see you're still in one piece."

"You too." Jayme's smile stayed in place. "You work here?"

"I do."

"You know, Z mentioned an Owen but I never made the connection."

"Z?" Owen furrowed his brow.

"That would be me." Arizona spoke as she rejoined them, three coffee cups carefully balanced in her hands.

"You two know each other?" Christina asked.

Jayme nodded. "Since high school."

Christina mumbled, "Great. Another perky one."

"Owen Hunt, Christina Yang, this is Mrs. Torres, Calliope's mother." Arizona handled introductions as she gave Rosa and Jayme their coffee. "Christina is Calliope's roommate and Owen is her boyfriend. He also helped Dr. Bailey with Calliope's surgery yesterday."

"It's nice to meet you." Owen gave her a warm smile.

"Yes it is." Christina seconded.

"Bailey told me Callie stabilized overnight. That's great news."

"She did?" Christina glared at Owen. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Owen half shrugged. "I was going to while we were eating."

"It's nice to know Callie has so many friends." Rosa did what any self respecting mother would when they sensed an argument coming on, she changed the subject. "So Owen, how do you know Jayme?"

"Her medevac unit brought people to the field hospital I was based out of in Iraq. I even patched her up a few times."

Arizona frowned. "Patched you up?"

"Yeah. Once when her chopper went down and…"

"Your chopper went down?!" The blonde interrupted him.

"It wasn't a big deal." Jayme gave Owen a 'be quiet' look.

"She's right. She only had to stay at the hospital a little over a week."

"Hi, I'm Jayme McKinnon." Jayme offered her hand to Christina as a way of avoiding Arizona's inevitable questions.

"McKinnon?" Christina ignored her hand. "You wouldn't be related to EJ McKinnon would you?"

"You could say that." Jayme pursed her lips. "He's my father."

"Who's EJ McKinnon?" Rosa asked.

"Who's EJ McKinnon?" Christina repeated her question like she was crazy.

Arizona shot her a look. "He's a cardiothoracic surgeon."

"He's a cardio God." Christina corrected her. "Please tell me you're one too."

"Sorry, no such luck. I'm a lowly trauma surgeon."

Christina snorted. "Well that sucks. And I'm hungry. Are you coming Owen?"

"Yes." Owen gave Jayme an apologetic look for Christina's bluntness. "How long are you in town?"

"However long Z needs me."

"What's with calling people letters?" Christina scowled.

"It's her thing." Arizona stood up for her friend. "I like it."

"That figures." The Asian grumbled.

"We should get a drink sometime." Owen brought the subject back to where it had been. "Or dinner."

Jayme grinned as Christina rolled her eyes and started to walk away. "I'm sure we'll see each other around. We can talk about it more then."

"Right." Owen smiled. "It's great to see you again Jayme. And I'm glad you made it home safely."

"You too."

"Your chopper went down?" Arizona repeated her question as he walked away.

Jayme opened her mouth to answer but Arizona's pager went off. "Saved by the beep."

Arizona frowned at her as she read the display on her pager. Her face fell when she saw what it said. "It's Calliope."

Rosa swallowed hard. "Is something wrong?"

"Bailey says to get to her room."

"Then go." Jayme gestured in the general direction of the elevators. "I'll find the attending's locker room and find your keys."

"But…"

"I know my way around a hospital Z. And I'm sure you have mail in your locker with your address on it. Now go be with Callie. Mrs. Torres, it was nice to meet you and I'm sure I'll see you again soon. Here, give me these." She took their coffee cups.

Arizona pulled her into a sideways hug. "I want more detail later."

"And you'll get it. Now scoot."

Rosa nervously followed Arizona toward the elevators. "Do you think something happened?"

"She's probably waking up."

"But it could be something else couldn't it?"

Arizona said a barely audible, "I hope not," as they got on the elevator.


	9. Chapter 9

Arizona watched the numbers tick by over the elevator doors, not sure if she wanted them to go faster or stop moving all together.

On one hand she needed to get to the ICU to see for herself that her instinct was right. That Callie was still on the road to recovery and Miranda had paged them to let them know she was waking up.

On the other she was so worried that she felt like she was going to throw up. She knew as a doctor that things had been a little too easy so far with Callie's condition. Post-op complications were all too common, especially with injuries like hers. What if Callie had taken a turn for the worse? What if the unthinkable had happened? What if she was…

Arizona closed her eyes, wishing the thought away. It really didn't matter why Miranda had paged them. Good or bad she had to get to the ICU to be with Callie.

Her heart sank when she saw Meredith Grey hovering outside the bank of elevators as the doors slid open.

"Bailey knew the two of you would be worried so she sent me to get you."

"Why?" Rosa spoke before Arizona could as they started down the corridor. "What happened?"

Arizona held her breath, knowing this was the moment of truth. Meredith held her fragile sense of self in her hands without even realizing it.

"She's coming around."

Rosa gasped. "She's waking up?"

Meredith nodded. "She is."

"What about her vital signs? Is she still stable? Has there been any change in her condition?" Arizona rapid fired the questions at the resident.

Meredith hesitated a moment, making sure she was done before answering. "She's still stable. As a matter of fact her vital signs have improved a little more."

"Rosa, thank goodness." Carlos called out as they entered the room. He rushed over to his wife, seizing her hand in his own. "One of those machines started making a noise and the nurse came running in and I didn't know what to do." He swallowed hard. "I've never been so frightened in my life."

"Why did the machine make a noise?" Rosa frowned. "I thought she was waking up."

"There are alarms to tell us when someone is regaining consciousness as well as if something is wrong." Arizona sounded far calmer than she felt.

"She's doing fine," Bailey looked at the figure in the bed. "Aren't you Callie?"

A feeling unlike anything Arizona had ever experienced washed over her when Callie's eyes fluttered open. "Calliope." The name was little more than a whisper as she rushed to her lover's side, leaning in close once she reached her. "Can you hear me?"

Brown eyes slowly but surely focused on her face.

"Hey." She took Callie's right hand, tears blurring her vision when she felt her hand being squeezed.

"What did I tell you?" Bailey was all smiles.

"This is good news right?" Rosa and Carlos had come to stand beside Arizona.

"Yes." Bailey confirmed. "I wanted you all to see for yourself that she's awake. Now if I can get you to clear out again I'll see if we can take her off the ventilator."

"If?" Carlos repeated the word. "I thought you said you would be able to once she woke up."

"I'm confident that we will but I need to examine her first."

Rosa shook her head. "I'm confused. Is she getting better or not?"

"Yes she is, but there was a lot of damage to her lung." Bailey patiently answered. "Just because it's holding it's own with the help of the ventilator doesn't mean it will be strong enough not to collapse again once we take her off it."

Carlos swallowed hard. "What if it's not?"

"Then we'll leave her on the ventilator until it is."

"How long will that take?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that Mrs. Torres. If I could get you to go to the family room for a little while so I can examine her I'll know more. Dr. Karev will escort you."

Alex opened his mouth to protest but knew it wouldn't do him any good. He shot Meredith a nasty 'why do you get to stay' look before mumbling, "Sure."

"I'm going to go with your parents but I'll be back soon." Arizona kissed Callie on the forehead. "Be a good patient for Bailey." She started to pull away, frowning when Callie's grip tightened on her hand. "Calliope?"

"I don't think she wants you to leave." Meredith observed.

"You should stay." Carlos looked at Bailey. "She should stay."

"I don't…"

"She's going to stay." Rosa spoke over Miranda.

Arizona opened her mouth but couldn't find the words to actually speak. Of course she didn't want to leave but she didn't want Callie's parents to feel like they were being alienated either.

"She needs you right now Arizona." Rosa picked up on her hesitance.

"She's a doctor." Carlos continued. "She should get to stay."

"I was going say I don't have a problem with that." Bailey finally managed to get a word in edgewise.

"Then it's settled." Rosa nodded. "Come on Carlos. Let's go."

Carlos smiled at his daughter. "We'll be back soon hija."

"I can..." Arizona started to move only to hear a moan from Callie as she tightened her grip on her hand again.

"I think you better stay where you are." Carlos instructed. "We don't want to upset her."

"And there will be plenty of time for us to visit with her later. We'll see you soon Callie." Rosa gave her leg a motherly squeeze before turning toward Alex. "Are you ready Dr. Karev?"

"I kind of have to be." Alex grumbled.

"Karev." Miranda warned him him.

"Let's go." He gave the Torres' a fake smile before leading them out of the room.

Meredith watched them go. "I could have taken them."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're the one who kept an eye on Callie all night while Karev was off doing whatever. Let him throw his fit. We're busy here. Now get an oxygen mask ready in case we need it."

Arizona was concentrated on Callie. "It's going to be all right Calliope. Miranda is going to take good care of you."

"Yes I am." Bailey went to the opposite side of the bed. "Let me just take a quick listen here." She used her stethoscope to listen to Callie's chest. "It still sounds good. Are you ready to try getting rid of that ventilator?"

The corner of Arizona's mouth turned up when Callie nodded. At least they knew she understood what was being said to her.

The thought sent a shiver down her spine. No one had mentioned brain damage but Callie had stopped breathing twice, once in the ER and again on the operating table. What if lack of oxygen had caused some sort of damage? Bailey was thorough and would have run every test in the book but the brain was very tricky. Sometimes damage wasn't always readily apparent from test results. What if she was getting Callie back now only to face that kind of situation?

She told herself to stop. She had been jumping to doom and gloom conclusions ever since Callie was hurt. She needed to concentrate on the positive. The woman she loved was alive and awake and that was enough for now. They would face whatever else happened just like Carlos and Rosa did… together.

"Now I know you know how this works but I need you to take a deep breath and blow out as I pull the tube free, OK?" Bailey continued, not noticing Arizona's silent musings.

Callie nodded again.

"Then let's do this."

Arizona had extubated countless patients during her career as a doctor but this was completely different. She wasn't the one in control of the situation. All she could do was tighten her grip on Callie's hand, offering what support she could.

For her part Callie followed Bailey's instructions, taking a deep breath and blowing it out as the shorter woman removed the tube from her throat. She gagged as it came free and she was able to breathe again on her own. Her face crumbled in pain when she instantly started coughing.

"Calliope?" Arizona anxiously watched her for a half second before looking at Bailey. "She can't breathe."

"Give her a minute."

"But…"

"I said give her a minute." Bailey was watching her patient closely.

Sure enough Callie's coughing subsided but her eyes stayed closed.

"You still with us Torres?"

"Yes." The brunette rasped. "Arizona?"

"She's right here and she's fine so be quiet for a second." Bailey used her stethoscope to listen to Callie's chest again, nodding to let Arizona know she liked what she was hearing. "How do you feel?"

"Sore." Callie licked her lips as she opened her eyes again. "And thirsty."

"I've got it." Arizona used her free hand to pour water from the pitcher on the stand next to Callie's bed into the cup sitting next to it. She topped it off with a straw before holding it up to her girlfriend's mouth. "Take it slow. You don't want to choke."

Callie took several small sips, never breaking eye contact with Arizona. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Arizona quickly put the cup back so she could use her index finger to capture a drop of water on Callie's bottom lip.

Bailey tried not to grin at the interaction. "I'm going to ask you some questions Callie and I need you to be completely honest with me. Are you having trouble breathing?"

"No."

"Does it hurt when you breathe?"

"A little but nothing major."

"Don't lie to me. You had a collapsed lung and we don't want it collapsing it again."

"It's really not that bad."

"All right. Grey," Bailey looked at the resident. "Let's get her on some oxygen until we're sure her saturation levels are going to stay up. And increase her pain meds to…"

"No." Callie cut in.

Bailey raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me, did you just tell me no?"

"I don't want any pain meds."

Arizona frowned. "Calliope."

"They'll knock me out." She tried to sound as convincing as she could considering Meredith was stringing oxygen tubing across her face.

"You need to rest." The blonde tried to reason with her as she helped Meredith tuck the tubing behind Callie's right ear.

"I will." She gave Grey a half grin in thanks once she was done.

"Damn straight you will because you're getting the pain meds." Bailey's voice didn't leave any room for discussion. "You were shot Torres. You had major surgery. You're body has been through a lot and you _will _rest so you can heal. I'm not going to have you being all pigheaded and messing up the great job I did saving your life." Miranda shook her head, mumbling, "I don't want any pain meds. Crazy othro surgeons."

"I didn't know you cared so much Bailey." Callie teased.

Miranda gave her a look. "You better watch yourself. I'd hate to have to kick your ass once you're up and around again."

Callie chuckled, her brow furrowing at the pain it caused.

"Are you all right?" Arizona anxiously asked.

"I'd say I'm fine but you'd call me a liar." Callie looked up into concerned blue eyes. "So I'll go with I'm good instead."

"That would still be a lie." Bailey retorted. "You're well on your way to being good but you're not quite there yet. Now let's get back to my questions. Do you know where you are?"

"I think that's obvious."

"Calliope." Arizona chastised her.

Callie sighed. "I'm in the hospital." She looked around the room. "The ICU."

Bailey nodded. "And do you remember what happened?"

"Arizona and I were treating a kid in the ER when another kid came in with a gun. He, uh…" She frowned. "He pointed it at Arizona when I told her to call security. It gets a little hazy from there but I remember him pulling the trigger and then being on the floor. Arizona she..." Callie swallowed hard. "She was trying to help me."

"That's enough for now." Arizona spoke up, not wanting to relive what happened in great detail again. "She should be resting."

"You're right. She should be." Bailey smiled at her patient again. "You're one lucky woman Torres."

Callie squeezed Arizona's hand. "I know."

"I meant to be alive but take it anyway you want. Grey, let's go get her parents."

"It's great to have you back Callie." Meredith smiled before walking out.

"We'll take our time. Give you two a chance to be alone. Just don't be trying any…." Bailey gestured at them. "You know."

Callie grinned. "We won't."

"Thanks Miranda." Arizona gave her an appreciative look. "For everything."

"I was just doing my job. I'll be back with your parents and we'll see what we can do about getting you into a private room." She threw a, "Remember, no nookie," over her shoulder as she left.

"She's so bad sometimes." Callie's grin faded when she saw tears gleaming in her girlfriend's eyes. "Hey. What's the matter?"

"I…" Arizona hiccupped on a sob. "I almost lost you."

"But you didn't." She moved her hand, putting it on Arizona's cheek so she could use her thumb to catch her tears as they started to fall.

"Do you remember what happened before we came to the hospital?" Her heart clinched in her chest when Callie's hand stilled and she averted her gaze. "I'm sorry Calliope. I'm so sorry."

"Arizona…"

"Don't you dare try to justify what I did. I was stupid and upset and took it out on you." She shook her head as fresh tears started to flow. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"It's all right."

"No it's not. I know you thought I meant what I was saying about us." Her voice hitched again. "This isn't the way I wanted to say this for the first time, but I love you Calliope."

"I love you too."

She closed her eyes, absorbing the brunette's words. There was no feeling in the world that compared to knowing the person you loved loved you back.

"Arizona? Are you all right?"

"I've never been more all right in my whole life." Arizona smiled. "Calliope Torres, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Please don't ever doubt how I feel about you. And if I ever have another attack of the stupids remind me of this conversation."

Callie grinned. "I can do that."

Arizona put her hand over Callie's on her cheek. "Thank you."

"For saying I would point out if you're being stupid?"

"For saving my life."

Callie shook her head. "I didn't…"

"You stepped between me and someone with a gun Calliope. That's saving someone's life."

"I…" Callie had some tears of her own. "I couldn't let him hurt you."

"Shhh." Arizona ran the fingers of her free hand through Callie's hair. "I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Prove it."

"What?"

"Kiss me."

"Calliope. You heard what Miranda said."

"Please."

She started to protest again but how could she possibly deny those big brown eyes? Arizona closed the gap between them, letting her lips gently caress Callie's. It was tame in comparison to some of the kisses they had shared but it conveyed the overwhelming love she felt for the other woman.

"Hmm." Callie purred as they parted.

The corner of Arizona's mouth turned up at the look of pleasure on her lover's face. "You liked that huh?"

"Do it again."

"Not right now. You're supposed to be resting."

"But..."

"I'm not going anywhere Calliope. Just close your eyes for a few minutes." She started running her fingers through dark tresses again.

"Stop doing that." Callie tried to move her head as her eyelids grew heavy.

Arizona ignored her request. "Relax. I'm right here."

"Promise you'll stay?"

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"I love you."

Arizona smiled at the half whispered, sleepy words. "I love you too Calliope."


	10. Chapter 10

Carlos carefully made his way across the lobby, wondering whose bright idea it was to put the coffee kiosk at the opposite end of the hospital from the main bank of elevators. The cups he was carrying had lids and fitted rings of thicker cardboard to keep them from getting too hot against his skin but he could just picture the scolding liquid they held spilling out onto his hands or, even worse, onto anyone unfortunate enough to bump into him.

"You're walking like an old woman again. It's coffee, Carlos, not acid."

He frowned at his wife as the elevators finally came into view, glad to see there wasn't anyone waiting for them. It was getting late in the evening and the hospital had cleared out quite a bit since he and Rosa came down to the cafeteria to eat. Maybe they would be able to make it back to Callie's room without anyone running into him.

"I could almost hear your sigh of relief all the way over here." Rosa, who had already reached the elevators, teased as she hit the up button. "Just a few more steps amor and you'll be home free."

As if on cue the elevator doors opened and a man in scrubs came charging out, too caught up in typing something into his phone to notice anything around him. Rosa was already safe but Carlos barely managed to step aside in time to avoid being hit.

The boy didn't even notice as he continued on his way. Carlos opened his mouth to reprimand him when he noticed a woman come around the corner, stepping directly into the man's path. There was no time for any sort of warning as the two of them collided.

"Whoa." The woman gripped the man's arm to keep them both from falling. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," the man squeaked, obviously shaken.

The woman bent down to pick up his phone. "Is this the culprit for why you weren't watching where you were going?"

He avoided her gaze. "Yes."

"I don't know the scrubs color scheme around here. What does light blue make you?"

"An intern."

She hissed as she nodded. "That means you really need to pay attention to what you're doing. Otherwise you're not going to have much of a future around here. What do you think would have happened if I was a patient and you mowed me down because you had your nose buried in that thing?"

"I... Uh..."

"Nothing good." She handed him the phone. "So put that away and go."

"Right." He scrambled to put the phone in his pocket. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the only one you should be saying that to."

He quickly looked over his shoulder at the Torres'. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right dear, just be more careful." Rosa gave him a motherly nod.

Carlos frowned at him, causing the boy to swallow hard before almost tripping over his own feet to get away from them.

"You handled that like a pro." Rosa smiled at the woman.

The woman shrugged. "They can smell authority."

"Are you on your way up to see Callie?"

"I was. I still want to try to snag Arizona for dinner. Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all."

Carlos' frown deepened as he watched the exchange. He had never seen the woman before and he had been to Seattle more times than Rosa. How could she possibly know her?

"Where are my manners? Jayme this is my husband Carlos. Carlos, this is Jayme McKinnon, Arizona's friend. I told you about meeting her this afternoon."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Torres. I would shake your hand but…" Jayme eyed the coffee he was carrying.

"Here." Rosa snatched the cup from her husband's right hand, taking a sip as she watched him accept Jayme's hand.

"As I said, it's nice to meet you sir."

"Likewise." Carlos answered.

He was a man of few words if he knew you let alone if he was meeting you for the first time so Rosa only waited a few seconds before speaking again. "Arizona insisted we come to the cafeteria to eat. I needed a caffeine fix afterwards and thought she would appreciate one too."

"She will. Z practically lives on coffee."

"I knew I liked her." Rosa took another sip.

"How's Callie?"

"She's doing wonderful." Rosa led the way into the elevator when the doors opened again. "Dr. Bailey was paging us because she woke up."

"Really? That's great!"

"Isn't it? And they took her off the ventilator and moved her to a private room this afternoon."

Their conversation continued but Carlos tuned out, taking the opportunity to give Jayme a once over. He had a tendency to compare other young women to his daughters. Jayme was tall, like his girls, with short black hair and green eyes that sparkled as she smiled at his wife. She reminded him of Callie with her confidence and natural ability to interact with others.

Aria and Callie were everything to him. His pride and joy. The legacy he would leave behind someday when the good Lord saw fit to call him home. He was ashamed of himself for the way he had treated Callie. Yes it was a shock when she introduced him to Arizona and said they were dating but he could have stayed calm and listened to what she had to say. Instead he let his narrowminded stubbornness get in the way, cutting her off financially and emotionally. If Arizona hadn't cornered him with that speech about how her own father reacted when he found out she was a lesbian he probably still wouldn't have been speaking to Callie.

His little girl could have died thinking he hated her.

A lump formed in his throat at the idea. A parent wasn't supposed to outlive their child but it happened all too often. And even though Dr. Bailey kept assuring them that Callie was getting better he couldn't help but think about how things could have turned out.

"Carlos?"

He looked up when he heard his name to see concern in Rosa's brown eyes.

"Are you all right amor? You were a million miles away."

"Yes, sorry. I was just thinking. What did I miss?"

Rosa watched him for another moment before speaking. "Jayme asked if we would help her persuade Arizona to leave Callie's room for a little while."

"She tends to ignore her own wants or needs when someone she loves is hurt or sick." Jayme explained. "She looked pretty beat when I saw her earlier."

"The poor thing is exhausted." Rosa agreed.

"So I thought if you and Mrs. Torres…"

"It's Rosa."

Jayme grinned at the older woman. "I thought if you and Rosa backed me up when I tell her it's time to take a break she might listen."

"That's a good idea." Carlos nodded. "Callie will be very upset with us if we stand by and watch Arizona run herself down."

"Exactly. That's not the kind of first impression I want to make on my best friend's girl." Jayme raised her eyebrows. "So what do you say? Do we have a deal? Because as crazy as it sounds you might have to literally kick her out to get her to go."

"I'm sure it won't take anything that drastic." Rosa tisked. "She hasn't seen you in a while."

"I like the way you think Rosa. I can guilt trip her into coming with me."

"That's not what I meant."

"Maybe not but it works."

"You can't be serious."

Carlos chuckled at the exasperated expression on his wife's face. His father once told him that if you really wanted to know someone you needed to meet their friends because they were the true measure of a person's character. He still had a lot to make up for as far as Callie and Arizona were concerned so he had promised himself he would get to know the pediatrician better. If Jayme was any indication of what he could expect from Arizona they were going to be just fine.

"And what are you laughing about?" Rosa frowned at him.

"Nothing." He shook his head as they finally reached their floor and exited the elevator.

"Good answer." Jayme smirked at him.

Carlos smiled. Yes, he had a feeling Arizona was going to be a very welcome addition to the Torres family.

*************

Arizona leaned against the counter next to the coffee maker, rotating her head from side to side as she used her right hand to gently massage her neck. She was going to have to stop falling asleep in the chair next to Callie's bed if she had any chance of being able to move her head normally again. It was comfortable for sitting but not so much so for taking a nap. Leaning forward to lay her head on the edge of the mattress didn't help either but she couldn't stop herself. She wanted to be as close as possible to Callie.

Which is why she wished the stupid coffee pot would hurry up and finish dripping already so she could get back to Callie's room. She wanted to be awake when her girlfriend woke up again but kept drifting off so she decided to risk a quick trip to the nurse's station for a cup of coffee only to find the pot empty. Since she was there and could really use a shot of caffeine, she decided to wait for a new pot to brew.

And it was finally done. She quickly poured herself a cup and started back toward Callie's room, taking a sip as she went.

Her eyes were instantly drawn to a flurry of activity up the hallway. From the number of people hurrying into the room she knew they were working a code. But it wasn't until Miranda Bailey literally ran by her that she realized what room they were in... Callie's room.

The coffee cup slid from her suddenly nerveless fingers as she sprinted down the corridor, coming to a screeching halt in the doorway. Owen was already standing next to the bed working on Callie. Or at least he should have been but he wasn't, he was just staring down at her as the alarm on the heart monitor behind him continued to wail.

"What do we have?" Bailey breathlessly asked as she went to the opposite side of the bed.

"I think she threw a blood clot."

"What do you need me to do? Compressions? The paddles?"

"No. It's..." Owen's voice was raw. "It's too late."

Bailey frowned. "What?"

"She had a massive heart attack. There's nothing we can do." He clinched his jaw. "She's gone."

"No." The word slipped from Arizona's lips. "No." She shook her head. "NO!" She blindly pushed past people to get to Bailey's side. "There has to be something you can do! She was fine just a few minutes ago."

"Arizona I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Do something! She was FINE!!"

"Arizona..." Bailey reached for her.

"No." Arizona avoided her hand. "He's wrong Miranda."

"I wish I was." Owen turned the heart monitor off, plunging the room into silence. "I really am sorry Arizona."

"This can't be happening." Tears blurred her vision.

"Come on." Bailey put her arm around the blonde's waist to lead her out of the room. "Let's go."

"No, Calliope." She tried to break free, to stay with her lover but Miranda was too strong. "Calliope?" Her heart broke into a million pieces as Owen pulled the bed sheet up over Callie, obscuring her from view. "Calliope!"

Her eyes snapped open as she jerked upright in the chair, her girlfriend's name still on her lips. She frantically looked around the room, expecting to find Owen, Miranda and the others but there was no one there.

She swallowed hard as she looked toward the bed, breath she didn't realize she'd been holding rushing from her lungs when she saw that Callie was still sleeping peacefully. Her eyes travelled to the monitors keeping track of the brunette's condition, relief flooding through her when saw all the readings were within normal range. Callie was stable.

It was just a dream. Another horrible, horrible nightmare.

"Look what we found downstairs."

Arizona nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Rosa's voice.

"We ran into her at the elevators and decided to bring her up with us. Don't you two have dinner plans?" Rosa's voice trailed off when she noticed the bewildered look in the blonde's eyes.

Jayme saw it too. "Z?"

"Jayme." Her friend might as well have been an angel standing there. What Arizona needed more than anything right now was someone to lean on. Normally Callie would be more than happy to oblige but she wasn't in any shape to help her out and no one else in Seattle knew her. Not the way Jayme did.

"Come here."

Her open arms were like a beacon leading her through the fog. Arizona was on her feet and wrapping her arms around Jayme in no time.

"It's all right." Jayme held her close. "I'm here."

"What's going on?" Carlos frowned. "Is something wrong with Callie?"

"No." Arizona's voice was muffled by her friend's shirt.

"Are you OK dear?" Rosa asked.

"She will be." Jayme rubbed her back. "We just need to take a walk and..."

"No." Arizona clung to her. "I can't leave Calliope."

"Then we'll go. Come on Carlos." Rosa started out of the room again.

"We were going to go to Callie's to get some of her things she'll be needing." Carlos spoke before Jayme could protest. "We'll just go now instead of later."

Jayme wanted to tell them to stay but knew Arizona wouldn't open up to her if they did. "Thank you."

"You just take care of her." Rosa eyed the blonde sadly, wishing there was something more she could do.

Carlos took his wife's hand, closing the door behind them as they left.

Jayme ran one of her hands through blonde locks. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Arizona shook her head.

"Do you want to sit down?"

Arizona nodded.

Jayme led her back to the chair, somehow managing to sit down and arrange Arizona in her lap without breaking contact with her friend.

Arizona burrowed against her. There were very few people who made her feel truly safe. Her parents, Callie and Jayme tied for the top of the list and she said a silent prayer of thanks that someone had seen fit to send her best friend her way right now.

"Shh." Jayme tightened her grip. "You know I wouldn't say this if I didn't believe it Z. Everything is going to be OK. Callie's getting better and the bastard who did this to her is in police custody. It's going to take some time, but everything really is going to be all right. And I'm going to be here with you until it is."

It felt good to finally give in to the emotions she had been holding at bay since that punk drew his gun in the ER and cry.


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: Is it just me or are the writers at Grey's destroying Callie and Arizona? Why can't they just let them talk about having kids like adults? I'm going to have to boycott the show if they keep it up. Anyway, enough ranting. Thanks to everyone for their kind words. I hope you enjoy this chapter._

This wasn't how she pictured things at all. She was supposed to come to Seattle, surprising both Arizona and Callie. They would go out for drinks or dinner or, preferably, sit around at Arizona's place so she could catch up with her best friend and get to know Callie from something other than pictures in e-mails. They weren't supposed to be in a hospital room with Callie recovering from a gunshot wound, Arizona crying her eyes out and her feeling absolutely helpless.

It had always been her responsibility as Arizona's best friend to make everything all right. She should have been able to do more than sit there rubbing circles on the blonde's back in the hopes it would make her feel better.

Her gaze shifted to Callie. Now there was a girl who took doing more to a whole new level. Not only did she save Arizona's life, she took a bullet in the process. She was willing to risk her life to keep Arizona safe. Jayme could feel her place as Arizona's protector slipping away.

And she couldn't be happier.

Arizona might not have realized it yet but Callie was the one. The woman she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Jayme had seen her in relationships before but never one like this. Her friend was completely and utterly, absolutely head over heels in love for the first time in her life.

The sound of a sniffle drew her from her thoughts as Arizona pulled back to look at her.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" She furrowed her brow as she repeated the word. "For what?"

"Crying all over you."

"Please. You know I've always got your back Z." Jayme used her hand to wipe tears from her friend's cheeks. "This shirt needed washed anyway." The corner of her mouth turned up when the blonde chuckled. "Feeling better?"

Arizona nodded.

"Does that mean you can talk about what had you so upset?"

"I, uh…" Arizona sighed. "It's stupid."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

"Jayme…"

"I know I haven't been around for a while Z but you can still talk to me."

"I know."

"Then lay it on me."

"I've…" Arizona still hesitated. "I've been having nightmares." She spit it out like it was a dirty secret.

"Hey." Jayme gripped her chin to keep her from averting her gaze. "You've been through a lot. Nightmares are a normal reaction."

"Do you have them?" She regretted the question the moment it passed her lips. She had witnessed Owen struggle through therapy to cope with what he had seen overseas. What did she think she was doing, bringing up the subject with Jayme? Yes she wanted to help her friend but now was hardly the time. They had barely had a chance to stay hello to each other since she got home. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Stop apologizing. And the answer is yes. I have them all the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's nothing to be ashamed of. They're freaky and scary but I think I would worry more if I didn't have them. Our subconscious mind has to deal with bad memories somehow. It's no different than having nice dreams about a good memory."

Arizona furrowed her brow. "I never thought about it that way."

"Neither did I until I talked to a councilor at one of the bases but what he said makes perfect sense. He also said talking about them helps. Do you want to give it a try?"

"Will you talk to me about yours?"

"Z…"

"I know you've experienced things I can't even imagine Jayme but I also know you didn't see that councilor voluntarily just like I know you won't go to another one now that you're home. You're going to need someone to talk to. Let me be that someone." She raised her eyebrows when Jayme opened her mouth to reply. "And before you say anything, if it gets to be too much or I don't think I handle what you're telling me I'll let you know. But you'll gloss over the details to spare me the worst of it anyway so that won't be an issue."

"I'll talk to you if I need to." A ghost of a grin played across Jayme's face at the look that got her. "Fine. You can be my future head shrinker. Now stop stalling and talk to me."

Arizona hesitated again. Did she really want to relive what she dreamed? If she did she would more than likely break down but if she didn't she wouldn't be holding up her end of the bargain. Besides, maybe Jayme was right. Maybe talking about her nightmares would help.

"I've had two now. The first one happened when Calliope was in surgery. I drifted off in a consult room and dreamed about her funeral. I was at the cemetery, on my way to the gravesite, when I saw her. I tried to get to her but ended up falling in her grave."

Jayme gave her a comforting squeeze. "And the second one?"

"I fell asleep here in her room sometime after Carlos and Rosa went down to dinner. I dreamed I was at the nurse's station getting coffee to stay awake in case she woke up again and she…" Her voice cracked. "She threw a blood clot that caused a massive heart attack and died while I was gone."

"You woke up just before we came in the room didn't you?"

Arizona nodded.

"No wonder you were so upset." Jayme pulled her close again so her head rested on her shoulder. "I want you to try something for me Z. I'm not saying it will work but maybe if you think about better times with Callie instead of what happened you'll stop having nightmares. I know it goes against everything you've learned as a doctor to not think in worst case scenarios but you have to remember that you're not her doctor. You're her girlfriend. Think happy thoughts instead of dreading what might happen next." She made a face. "And please tell me I didn't just sound like Peter Pan telling you to think happy thoughts."

"You didn't."

"Good. I wouldn't look good in green tights."

Arizona giggled. "Thanks Jayme. You have no idea what having you here right now means to me."

"Where else would I be?"

"I hope you know how much I love you."

Jayme nestled her cheek against the top of Arizona's head. "I love you too."

*************

Addison barely waited for the cab to stop before throwing a handful of money into the front seat with the driver and running for the hospital. She must have looked a sight in her high heels and wrinkled clothes but she didn't care. She had literally run out of the practice and to the airport as soon as she got the call about Callie.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, telling herself not to start crying again until she knew for sure what was going on. According to Mark Callie had made it through surgery and Bailey was optimistic about her condition. But she was also in the ICU on a ventilator which was never a good thing.

"Mark." She called out as she pushed through the doors and spotted him in the lobby.

"Addy." Mark welcomed her with a hug.

Addison barely returned the embrace before pushing away to look at him. "What the hell happened? How did some kid get into the ER with a gun? How's she doing? Is she all right? Is she still in the ICU?"

Mark held up his hands to stop her. "Slow down. I can't answer you if you keep throwing questions at me."

"Sorry." She ran a shaky hand through her hair. "Start with is she all right? Please tell me she's going to be OK."

"She's going to be OK."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh thank God."

Mark smiled. Addison loved Callie just as much as he did. That's why he didn't mind sharing the title of best friend with her. "She's out of the ICU and in a private room."

"And the vent?"

"Gone."

Addison visibly relaxed. "Has she woken up yet?"

"She did for a little while this afternoon but Bailey has her on some major pain meds right now so she's pretty out of it."

"Did you get a chance to see her when she was awake?"

"No." He sighed. "Arizona hogged her."

Addison grinned. "She's the girlfriend. She's allowed."

"Whatever. Do you want to go see her?"

"Do you have to ask?"

Mark put his hand on the small of her back as they walked toward the elevators, moving it once they were inside to hit the button for the fifth floor. "It might not be much of a visit. I looked in on them just a little while ago and both Callie and Arizona were out light a light."

"Has Arizona left her side?"

"No. Callie's parents got here this morning and keep trying to talk her into getting something to eat or going to Callie's apartment to rest but she won't do it. I'm afraid someone is going to have to literally drag her out of there. That's why I'm glad you're here."

"Why?"

"So you can drag her out of the room." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And I would want to do that because?"

"Because you're the one who moved to California. Besides," he smirked. "Chick fights are hot. You could totally take blondie."

Addison opened her mouth to tell him he was a pig but the elevator doors opened and she suddenly didn't care anymore. All she wanted was to get to Callie so she could see for herself that she was going to be all right.

She was so lost in thought that she ran into Mark's back when he came to a sudden stop in front of her. "What are you doing?!"

"Shhh!" He frowned as he peered through the window on the door.

"Why are you…" Her words were muffled as he put his hand over her mouth.

"What part of shhh don't you understand?" His frown deepened when she mumbled something against his palm. "I don't know what you just said but it didn't sound very nice."

Addison shoved his hand away. "What is wrong with you?"

Mark gestured toward the door. "Tell me what's wrong with that picture."

She did as she was told, frowning at what she saw. "Who is that woman?"

"I have no idea."

"And why is Arizona sitting on her lap?"

"That's what I'd like to know." He started to reach for the door handle.

"Wait a minute." Addison stopped him. "You can't just go in there with both barrels blazing."

"Why the hell not? Arizona is sitting on some strange woman's lap, looking awfully comfy I might add, while my best friend is lying in a hospital bed."

"Our best friend and I know it looks suspicious but I'm sure there's a logical explanation."

"What kind of explanation can there be? Callie was shot protecting Arizona and now she's sitting on some other woman's lap!"

"Shhh." Addison shushed him this time. "They'll hear you."

"Good."

"Stop that."

"No, she should stop that." Mark growled as Arizona put her head on the newcomer's shoulder.

Arizona opened her mouth to argue but couldn't find anything to say. There was no denying that Arizona looking too cozy for comfort. And the stranger was holding her a little to closely. She hated to admit it, but Mark was right. "Let's go."

"I hope you know how much I love you."

Arizona's words greeted them as they opened the door.

"I love you too."

"That will be just about enough of that!" Mark roared.

Arizona sprang out of Jayme's lap. "Mark?" She was surprised to see who was with him. "Addison? When did you get in town?"

"That's not important." Mark frowned at her. "Who the hell is that?"

Arizona matched his expression. "Excuse me?"

"I said," he pointed at Jayme. "Who the hell is that?"

Jayme climbed to her feet. "Don't talk to her like that."

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Well I was talking to you."

"Jayme, don't." Arizona put her hand on her friend's arm as she took a step toward Mark.

Mark's frown deepened, if that was possible. "Don't touch her."

"She'll touch whatever she wants." Jayme countered.

"I think we should all settle..."

"This is between her and I." Mark interrupted Addison.

"That's funny. I thought it was between you and Arizona."

"Jayme..."

"I've got this Z."

"Z?" Mark repeated the letter. "What's that, some kind of cutesy nickname?" He turned toward Arizona again. "Why does she have a cutesy nickname for you?"

"I've called her that for a long time." Jayme answered for Arizona.

"Just how long have you two been together?"

"Together?" Arizona raised her eyebrows. "We're not together."

Mark scoffed. "It sure seemed like it when you were sitting on her lap."

"She was comforting me."

"Is that what you call it?"

Jayme took a half step in front of Arizona. "I'm not going to tell you to watch how you talk to her again."

"She's right Mark." Addison agreed. "You're going too far."

Mark looked at her in disbelief. "Arizona is the one cheating on Callie and I'm going too far?"

"Yes." Addison nodded.

Arizona's mouth was hanging open. "I'm not cheating on Calliope."

"I'm her best friend." Jayme added.

"Yeah right." Mark's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Best friend with benefits maybe."

"No, she's really her best friend."

They all four turned toward the bed when they heard a new voice join the mix.

"Mark, Addison, I'd like you to meet Arizona's best friend, Jayme. Mark and Addison are my best friends." Callie grinned. "And you'll have to excuse Mark. He's an idiot."

Jayme returned her grin. "Most men are. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Callie."

"Likewise."

"She's your... The two of you aren't..." Mark mentally kicked himself. "I'm so sorry."

Arizona crossed her arms over her chest. "You should be."

"Callie." Addison went to her friend's side. "How are you feeling?"

Callie gripped her proffered hand. "Not much of anything right now thanks to the meds Bailey keeps pumping into me. What are you doing here?"

"You're lying in a hospital bed. Where else would I be?"

Callie switched her gaze to Mark. "You called her?"

He shrugged. "She deserved to know."

"Don't be too hard on him." Addison squeezed her hand.

"I'll let you get by with calling her but what were you doing accusing Arizona of cheating on me?"

"She was all snuggled up with another woman." Mark defended himself. "What was I supposed to think?"

"That I was upset over my girlfriend being shot." Arizona answered.

"I already said I was sorry."

"Not enough." Jayme piped in.

"So you're Arizona's best friend." Mark gave her a once over.

"Stop undressing her with your eyes." Arizona scolded him.

"I wasn't..."

"Yes you were." Callie cut him off. "You do it with everyone." She yawned.

"I'm going to go."

Callie frowned. "But you just got here."

"You need your rest. And I'm not going back to LA right away. I told everyone at the practice I had no idea how long I'd be gone so I'm yours for a while." Addison tucked Callie's hair behind her ear. "I'll come see you tomorrow."

"I'm gonna go too." Jayme turned to Arizona. "If I bring something up for you will you eat it?"

"Yes." Callie answered for her.

Jayme gave her an appreciative smirk. "I think we're going to get along just fine."

Callie smiled. "Me too."

"I guess I should go too." Mark sighed. "You're not too mad at me are you?"

"No, but I can't speak for Arizona." Callie shrugged her good shoulder when he gave her a look. "You should have chosen your battle more wisely."

"Yeah." Arizona stuck her tongue out at him as she hugged Jayme. "I'll see you in a little bit."

"You will." Jayme confirmed. "And remember what I told you if you start getting sleepy."

The corner of Arizona's mouth turned up. "I will."

"Was that pillow talk?"

Addison smacked Mark on the arm. "Come on. You're buying us dinner."

Mark frowned. "Us?"

"Me and Jayme." Addison pulled him toward the door. "It's the least you can do after what you did."

"Me? You came into the room too."

"Yeah but you're the one who ran your mouth." Jayme's words were the last to be heard as they left the room.

"I don't know if I like her being around Mark." Arizona watched them go.

"He's harmless." Callie yawned again. "And from what you've told me Jayme can take care of herself."

"You're right." Arizona pulled the chair closer to the bed.

"Don't sit there." Callie patted the bed. "Come up here."

"Calliope we can't..."

"I'm not going to try anything I just..." She looked into blue eyes. "I want to hold you."

"I don't think that's such a good idea. What if I hurt your shoulder?"

"You won't."

"What if Bailey comes in?"

"She went home for the night already."

"What if she makes a special trip back in to check on you?"

"I'm willing to risk it." Callie held out her good arm. "Now come on."

Arizona started to protest more but knew it was no good. She wanted to be held as much as Callie wanted to hold her. So she slipped off her shoes and climbed into the minuscule space next to her lover, coming to rest with her head on Callie's good shoulder and her arm around her waist.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Callie nuzzled her. "You need to start taking care of yourself Arizona."

"I..."

"You're obviously not eating or Jayme wouldn't be bringing you food."

"But..."

"And you're clearly exhausted. So shut up and go to sleep."

"Did you lure me into bed with you just tell me to shut up?"

"Yes."

"Well I only have one thing to say."

Callie was almost out again. "What's that?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

In no time they were both asleep.


End file.
